#tkts.notes

Have you ever downloaded any text file in Japanese but when you opened it, they're all garbled, undecipherable text? That's most likely because the original JP text is encoded using Shift JIS and your computer couldn't read it一as most non-Japanese device do.

Kyklos' lines in Japanese are actually the result of an SJIS (old, deprecated) decoder trying to read a UTF-8 (modern) encoded string thus, it resulted in a garbled text. All you have to do is convert them back into the UTF-8 encoding and it will be readable. Here is the result, courtesy to Fujino-san:

English translation:

Guider: Oh, dear Master ......Can you hear my voice? I have brought you the Queen.

※ I translated 案内人 directly as it is but I'm not very sure if I capture the nuance right. "Guider" here is as in a navigator, an escort, the person who can guide you from one place to another.

Fujino-san had also confirmed that the displayed text on the English version is simply the result of trying to open an SJIS encoded text on a non-Japanese PC. So it's not the result of JP text → EN translation → garbled text, they're both actually encrypting the same Japanese text! Simply put:

JP → UTF-8 encoded text being opened as SJIS

EN → opening an SJIS encoded text on a computer outside Japan

Below is my personal thoughts regarding this revelation:

All this time we all thought that Kyklos is the last boss. That she is THE Big Bad and, in a way, MC's "goal". But now that we know she's basically just an escort and there's the existence of a "Master", this opened up to new possibilities. We used to wonder why would the Kyklos cursed MC in the first place and now we have a tiny bit of light to this. The Kyklos is working for someone else but... just who is this entity that the Kyklos refers to as her "Master"?

The way the shadows started clapping at MC's arrival, how the Kyklos spoke as if addressing a royalty... How is MC the "Queen"? Who (or perhaps "what") is supposed to be her subjects?

After recontextualizing the situation, I thought the cut off word is "She"一like when you capitalize the pronouns of higher/divine beings. But the cut off JP word is "シ" (shi, in Katakana) and I'm not sure if "Here stands She" is correct grammarly anyway so I think I was off base. Still, due to the capitalization in English, I'd like to think that it either stands for a name or perhaps a title.

To end this post, I'll bring up how Fujino-san pointed out that some of the compounds of the garbled text could form the word "Kusanagi" (highlighted below). It's probably just a coincidence一as Fujino-san admitted as well一but it's still quite an astonishing coincidence if true. Just as astonishing as how the date when MC were cursed is also the night of a new moon.

We got another glimpse of Edward's mind on humans and anomalies relationship during Obscuary's second mission.

Tea With A Twist Of Murder - Chapter 19-20

Edward tried to entice MC with another solution to her curse. If she's going to become an anomaly anyway, why not choose to become a vampire instead of the Kyklos? At least this way, she'd still retain her sanity. She'd be a more "human-like" anomaly and she can be with Edward forever一death will not be looming on the corner of her eyes, threatening her safety.

But that's not what MC wants. MC wants to stay human. Her desire to remain human is so strong that it broke Edward's trance, much to his surprise. This is where we witness a very rare emotion coming out of him: contempt.

Edward couldn't even hide his disdain for MC's action. Why retaliate when her sorry fate can be fixed with just a little of his blood? Why deliberately picks the harder choice when there's something easier? Why choose to helplessly struggle when you're so easy to break? Edward couldn't understand MC's logic and it vexed him一so much that MC felt genuine fear of him, remembering that Edward Hart is very much a murder suspect.

But is that really all? Or could Edward be projecting someone else into MC...?

First, I shall show you what Edward's max affection voiceline is like: Being with you brings up old, old memories... Perhaps it's because you remind me a little of her.

We were left in the dark on who this "her" is to Edward until we found out at the very end of Season 1: it's about a woman named Narcissa一and apparently she was the one who "taught" Edward about the betrayals of human.

Our Last Goodbye Act II - Chapter 30

Now, I'm sure a lot of people are already familiar with the myth of Narcissus but I shall reiterate.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus is a hunter known for his beauty. He fell in love with his own reflection but eventually realized that his love could not be reciprocated and he melted away from the fire of passion burning inside him, eventually turning into a gold and white flower.

一 Taken from Wikipedia

There is also a version where it said that Narcissus were cursed to never be able to be loved by the one he fell in love with.

In hanakotoba, other than "conceit" and "narcissism" (duh), the Narcissus flower A.K.A. the daffodils can also be used to convey these feelings: "Come back home to me", "Love me once more", and "Return my love".

The Haunted Host Club - Chapter 31

In the newest chapter we got more hints on what I suppose happened between Edward and Narcissa.

So Narcissa were a mortal and very heavily implied to be Edward's lover. She vowed her eternal love to Edward but something happened that made her prioritize someone/something she cared about other than Edward and thus, she sacrificed their relationship. Edward viewed this act as a betrayal and now he's conviced a congenial relationship between humans and anomalies isn't meant to be.

Now let's backtrack a little.

Waves of Love - Chapter 33

This was the lines Edward used to convice MC to pick him. Edward can offer MC an eternal love but here's the catch: it's not unconditional. MC must swear her eternal love for Edward too一that is by agreeing to become a vampire so she can live alongside him. Refusing that condition will be seen as an act of betrayal.

A bit off tangent... Around more than a year ago, I saw this person I follow on Twitter dubbing Edward as one of Tokyo Debunker's top 重い男... it's a bit hard to explain the nuance in English but basically: if someone is being 重い (lit. heavy, but in this context we're talking about something more abstract rather than actual physical weight), it means they're the kind of person who loves so deeply and obsessively, their feelings of love became burdensome to the object of their affection. Sometimes their love can even "crush" their significant other.

Back then I didn't really get what they mean as I don't really understand Edward (I still don't, ngl) but now I can kind of see it. If Edward can't love someone unless they promise him their eternal love, that'd be quite burdensome, huh...? ^^"a

While we're on the topic of non-human ghouls who love obsessively, isn't there someone else that came to your mind? That's right: Shion Genkai.

On my post last month, I talked about how I suspected what Shion being obsessed about is the concept of "family" itself rather than the individuals involved.

Shion is obsessed with Mio and MC whom he claimed as his little brother and wife, respectively. He used to think of Haru as his family too but he "diswoned" Haru after the Yakushima incident一dubbing him a traitor.

While on slightly different vectors, there's an obvious parallel between the Edward-Narcissa and Shion-Haru dynamics. Both are a close-bonded relationship between an anomaly and a human which ended up failing due to a perceived "betrayal" by the human party.

"But wait!" you interrupted. "Isn't Haru a ghoul? That'd make him an anomaly!" Well... yes and no.

Haru, or just ghouls in general, are technically classified as anomalies by the Institute but to Edward, they're still fundamentally human.

Our Last Goodbye Act II - Chapter 3

Here Edward is telling Towa that no matter what Towa said, Haru is ultimately still human. And his fate is to leave Towa some day. While we have no way to confirm if Edward knows about Shion and Haru's fallout, considering this vampire seems to always know whatever is up when it comes to anomalies... I wouldn't put it past him. Haru have "betrayed" Shion. What makes you think he won't "betray" you too, Towa?

Towa is another non-human ghoul who loves obsessively. He has a very idealistic view of love, he wants to believe about fates written by the stars, and he absolutely loathe separation.

Personally, while I can see Towa loving both Haru and MC in abundance, it's still... hard for me to determine whether Towa genuinely feels "love" towards them or if he's just obsessed with the idea of love itself. The way I see it, Towa may very much just decide that whatever he feels towards Haru and MC is what "love" is supposed to be.

Out of the four non-human ghouls we know, only Lyca seems to love so selflessly. He wants to cerish and treasure everyone important in his life. Family, friends, and coworkers are all equally important to Lyca. Edward have told him multiple times that his sentiment is flawed and pretty much just a sweet dream that won't come true. Too bad Edward was being too cryptic about what he wanted to convey to Lyca so he has a very hard time trying to understand it. Fortunately for Lyca though, Leo is there to deliver the cold, hard fact just as is.

The Haunted Host Club - Chapter 4

Even if you ideally wanted to cerish every single person in your life, it's not realistic. Regular human isn't built for that. They can only handle a handful and even if they try to bite more than they can chew, the one who will have to pay the price later is themself.

This is Edward's full awakening voiceline: Sometimes a youthful folly can lead one into committing grave sins. So I hope that you keep this in mind一remain modest and cautious.

Whenever Edward comments on Towa and Lyca's naivety of wanting to live alongside humans, he always attribute it to them being young. Is it a judgement based on personal experience? Is his relationship with Narcissa happened when Edward considers himself young and immature? And now that he have experienced being betrayed by a human he's so fond of, he view himself as much more mature? For now, only he knows the truth and I'm just here to speculate.

While we're on the topic of Lyca let's examine the barometz case once again!

The Little Fugitive - Chapter 40

According to Edward the barometz only attacked and devoured the girl because it likes her and wanted to keep her close. What about it, you asked?

Well, at the beginning we were made to believe that Lyca didn't murder anyone and that the Institute is just being scummy as usual. But then we found out Lyca's alleged victim is Neros一someone very important to Lyca.

Now, I really wish that isn't the case but let's entertain the thought a bit.

Neros' body is said to be missing and it was suspected that Lyca ate it. What if Lyca really did kill and devoured Neros and then his memory of the event got lost due to trauma?

Some scenarios I can came up with: ① Neros deemed Lyca to be old enough so he wants him to be independent. Neros told Lyca he's leaving, Lyca reacted badly. Frenzied, Lyca turned into his wolf form and一in his desperate attempt to keep Neros with him一devoured him. This will go inline with the theme of a human betraying their anomalous companion. ② Neros is terribly sick and only have little time to live. Lyca can't stand seeing him suffering and he unconsciously transformed into his wolf form to both ended Neros' misery and keep him safe "inside" him. ③ etc...

I know this may sounds like a reach but the only time we got to see half-transformed wolf Lyca in an episode and it's particularly about an anomaly who devoured the human it is fond of as a sign of affection... Maybe it's worth considering, after all...?

We're almost coming to a close but first! Let me bring up Shion's max affection voiceline: Do you want to be with me forever, MC? Then how about a bite of this flesh? Ha ha ha…

Assuming what Shion trying to feed MC is mermaid flesh, all non-human ghouls have expressed their wish/offered to live forever with their human companion(s). Edward with Narcissa in the past and MC in present time; Shion with his little family members; Towa with Haru and MC; Lyca with Neros.

The Haunted Host Club - Chapter 22

The suspiciously Edward-shaped shadowy dark figure of our nightmare told MC that the past is a mirror to the future and she interpreted it that her past knowledge may become useful in the future/something in the past might happen again. Basically history will repeat itself.

....... But that can't be the only interpretation, right?! (sweats) It's not like there'll be another world-shattering apocalyptic event, right? !RIGHT?! (laughs)

PHEW! That was so damn long, huh? If you read all the way down here: thank you for your time! There's so much layers to these non-human ghouls; I can't wait to see what's under all that.

指切り拳万 (yubikiri genman): 指切り literally means "cutting off finger". The term is believed to be established in Yoshiwara, the famous red light district of Tokyo from around 1600s to 1800s. Yubikiri came from the practice of prostitutes cutting off their pinky finger as a way to prove their eternal love and loyalty to a customer一that they love this person so much, they're willing to hurt themself. 拳万 means "ten thousand fists". The sentiment is that if you couldn't keep your promise, you'll be punched 10,000 times.

嘘ついたら針千本呑ます (uso tsuitara hari senbon nomasu): "Whoever lies will have to swallow a thousand needles." This one is pretty straight forward. Not only must you keep your promise, you'll also be punished if you dare lying.

死んだら御免 (shindara gomen): If you just translate it directly, it'll be something like, "I'm sorry if I die", but after a little research, I found out that 御免 (gomen) in the Edo period don't simply mean apology but also have the nuance of exemption一a pardon, if you will. In the Edo Shigusa teachings, you're taught to always keep your promises. By pledging 死んだら御免, you swore to keep your promise as long as you're alive. So this line could be interpreted as either, "I'll keep my promise as long as I'm alive but if I ended up dead before fulfilling it, please forgive me," or, "The only way you'll be pardoned from breaking a promise is if you pay it with your life".

指切った (yubi kitta): Directly translated, it means, "the finger is cut". It's supposed to be said as you release your intertwined pinkies. Personally, I think it has the nuance of saying something like, "The promise is sealed!"

In the English loc, this is what Haku said:

Deadly In Love Act I - Chapter 30

"Cross my heart and hope to die"一according to Wiktionary, is an idiom added to a promise or a statement to show how serious one was about being honest in what one said. Sometimes this idiom is accompanied by a second clause that goes, "Stick a needle in my eye".

I looked it up to find if it's a reference of anything but I only found out that it's apparently originated as a religious oath based on the sign of the cross and later turned into a poem in the early 1900s? Which honestly feels a little recent to me... This Merriam-Webster article also wrote that the earliest recorded instance of the idiom is from late 19th century but other than the speculation that the idiom came from Christian influence, there's no further mention about poems based on it or whatnot. So yeah... While the poem's content is pretty interesting if you try to read it as a consideration to Haku's character, there's still no proper source for this so-called poem一I highly suggest to take it with a grain of salt. Below is the full poem:

Cross my heart and hope to die Stick a needle in my eye Wait a moment; I spoke a lie I never really wanted to die But if I may and if I might My heart is open for tonight Though my lips are sealed And a promise is true I won't break my word My word to you

Cross my heart and hope to die Stick a needle in my eye A secret's a secret My word is forever I will tell no one About your cruel endeavor You claim no pain But I see right through Your words in everything you do Teary eyes; broken heart Life has torn you apart

Cross my heart and hope to die Stick a needle in my eye I loved you then; I love you now I'll still love you though I'll break my vow I can't hold this secret any longer It's hurting you; not making you stronger You're my friend so I'll risk your respect By hurting you, I can protect I'll save yourself since you will not You might hate me but I'll give it a shot I'm willing to risk our bond that we own So long as you're safe you won't be alone

Cross my heart and hope to die Stick a needle in my eye Break my promise; tell a lie Save my friend Though, maybe it's 'bye'

We don't really know whatever it is that Haku promised MC in his mind as he made this pinky swear. Maybe nothing. Maybe he really did it without much thinking because it's simply a good luck charm and for his own peace of mind, just as he claimed.

But we know what happened to the ghoul who made a wish to save MC and called himself her knight last season. I know that the context is different but honestly I'm not sure if the odds are in Mister Kusanagi's favor this time... 'cuz it feels like he raised his own death flag with that yubikiri ngl hopefully I'm just overthinking and wrong

To end this post, I'll tell you a fun fact: did you know that the word for "good luck charm" (majinai) and "curse" (noroi)一despite the polaring meaning一is written exactly the same way? They're both written as 呪い, only differentiated by the reading. Nowdays 呪い almost always read as "curse" so if you want people to read it as "good luck charm", you either ① write them entirely in hiragana or katakana, ② add "o" at the front so it'll be "omajinai" (お呪い), or ③ add furigana/use ruby text.

Notice how Zenji called for both MC and Subaru at first but he ended up referring to MC only after she opened her eyes. Subaru didn't react much until MC confirmed that yes, she can see Zenji. Even then, it feels as if Subaru was reacting to MC's voice rather than Zenji's. You can't see his expression here but Subaru's voice sounded very distraught.

After that Subaru got interested in Saburo, even trying to use his stigma on him. Only to met with aggression from Saburo. This is where we heard that Saburo only let Zenji touch him (we later learn that he's fine with Hodge and Podge too).

What's more: Subaru seems bothered whenever he heard about someone being able to see and/or talk to Zenji. They purposefully show you how Subaru reacted to the information. All the time.

Subaru hearing that Lyca can sense Zenji. Nicely covered up by Haku's question. I think Subaru is both bothered by Lyca being able to sense Zenji and Haku's question here. (The Cursed Temple - Chapter 32)

Subaru hearing that Towa can talk to Zenji. Nicely covered up by the fact that his explanation of Star Festival got interrupted. (Lost Star - Chapter 6)

Subaru hearing that Hodge and Podge can see Zenji. Keep in mind that Saburo wasn't too fond of Subaru on their first meeting. (The Forest Of Longing - Chapter 8)

Subaru being very distraught that Katsuyoshi can see and talk to Zenji. The kinship he felt towards Katsuyoshi for being fellow disappointment is nowhere to be found一he immediately clammed up. (The Forest Of Longing - Chapter 21)

Subaru hearing that Hidemasa can see Zenji. (The Forest Of Longing - Chapter 38)

The only exception is when Sho talked to "Zenji" back in Lost Star. Though he made it clear that he's actually talking to Saburo instead of Zenji so we couldn't see Subaru's reaction.

The Cursed Temple - Chapter 25

MC specifically asked for "Hotarubi ghouls'" travel records. Back then, we haven't found out about Zenji being dead so we just assume his records is written there too. But that's not the case, isn't it? "Officially", Hotarubi ghouls are only Subaru and Haku. So MC was only looking at Subaru and Haku's records here.

Later, we got an explanation on how Zenji travelled to pick up Saburo.

The Cursed Temple - Chapter 30

MC thought, "Darkwick wouldn't have the phone of someone dead on their system, that's why Zenji's travel records weren't included in the documents Professor Dante gave me," but let me tell you one thing: this is a very flawed logic. An organization as big and uptight about their security as Darkwick would record EVERYTHING coming in and going out of their perimeters一especially if it's something that utilized their specialized app (in this case Catsmo).

Now, I'm not familiar with how things like public transport works in Japan but I don't think they'd just shut down a dead person's account just because they're... well, dead. Where I'm from, I think a family member had to manually request account shut down for that else they'll just let the account stay dormant. But Zenji's Catsmo account isn't like that, right? His account is still very much active and that's why he can still use the Galaxy Express to travel by himself.

Zenji is a smart man but he isn't very tech savvy (he still somehow thinks that him not being recorded on videos is simply due to Haku's incompetence) and I'd bet MC only knows the general information about travel app records. It's easy for her to arrive at the wrong conclusion, especially when she's not familiar with how Darkwick works. What's more, this happened literally the next moment:

Haku teased MC by pointing out that she was suspecting them. MC, flustered and feeling guilty, immediately tried to make an excuse and then she got reminded of Zenji's note. Thus, MC (and Zenji) is distracted from the topic of Zenji's travel record and wouldn't realized the flaw in her own explanation. Misdirection success! Haku, you sly fox!

So unless Zenji was lying about using Catsmo (which I doubt, that guy is a terrible liar), Darkwick absolutely have a record of "Zenji Kotodama"/"Taro Kirisaki" using Galaxy Express to commute that day.

Now that it's out of the way, let's tackle the other topic: Darkwick trying to revive Zenji. Bringing someone back from the dead... sounds incredulous, huh? But Darkwick have successfully brought someone back to life before: Dante.

The Cursed Temple - Chapter 16

Honestly since we haven't shown the exact scene and what happened after, we can only either speculate around it or take Alan's testimony as it is: ① Alan didn't actually kill Dante. He only thought he did. Dante was left an inch from death but Darkwick managed to save him. ② Alan did kill Dante and Darwick successfully brought him back to life. For this ramble, we'll assume ② is what happened and so revival from death is possible in the world of Tokyo Debunker.

So, Darkwick have had a history of reviving someone from death. This would explain their confidence on the chance of reviving Zenji. Problem is that Dante is a human while Zenji is a ghoul一an anomaly. The thing that revived Dante might not work the same way to revive Zenji. That's why for now they're still only preserving his body. They need more research. Cynical part of me thinks that Darkwick might be pouring more resources on researching a way to revive Zenji and that's why the Kyklos curse research is lackluster (on top of the fact that we have very little informations on Kyklos) but who knows... (this is not me blaming Zenji, btw)

Going back to Dante, this particular line of his stand out to me:

The wording made the line feel like Dante is challenging Alan but the tone of delivery isn't like that at all. Did he mean: ① "You can try killing me again. They can revive me anyway." ② "You can kill me again if you want to. This time for sure." What do you think? 🤔

Anyway, it's kind of interesting that Alan's murder of Dante were told in Episode 2 and his death and revival is talked again in Episode 5一a Hotarubi focus episode of all houses. Hotarubi, where one of the ghouls is intertwined with the concept of death and revival as well.

And the fact that both Kirisaki brothers have something to do with "being revived". Jiro was in some sort of coma until Yuri managed to cure him and woke him up and now Darkwick is trying to bring Zenji back from death.

To end this rambling: I don't think Darkwick has the purest motive on wanting to revive Zenji, for all its worth, but I really doubt they'd actually want to "put him to rest" either, as Haku put it. So I'm leaning to Haku lying about this but... what's his motive? 

Dante said it himself, he's not exactly hiding his revival (but he won't talk about it either since this concerns Alan) so this whole Darkwick bringing someone back from death isn't really a super top secret or anything, right? So why...?

💙FROSTHEIM

冠特 (KamuToku)

ばし特, バシ特 (BashiToku) or 磴特 (IshiToku)

ルカ特 (LucaToku)

魁特 (KaiToku)

💛VAGASTORM

御特 (MidoToku)

玲特 (LeoToku)

翔特 (ShoToku)

🧡JABBERWOCK

陽特 (HaruToku)

叶特 (TowaToku)

蓮特 (RenToku)

❤️SINOSTRA

ばみ特 (BamiToku)

ロミ特 (RomiToku)

律特 (RitsuToku)

💜HOTARUBI

昴特 (SubaToku)

伯特 (HakuToku)

善特 (ZenToku)

🩷OBSCUARY

エド特 (EdoToku)

累特 (RuiToku)

ライ特 (RaiToku)

💚MORTKRANKEN

佑特 (YuuToku / YuriToku)

じろ特 or 次特 (JiroToku)

🤎DIONYSIA

丈特 (JoToku)

未特 (MioToku)

エリ特 (EliToku)

シオ特 (ShioToku)

🤍MISC.

ハイ特 (HaiToku / HydeToku)

ダン特 (DanToku)

キク特 (KikuToku)

ニナ特 (NinaToku)

Some examples of how "yarashii" is used in Kansaiben:

A: *showing off a tacky shirt* Does this looks good on me? B: Uhh... I think it looks kinda yarashii... → What B doesn't mean: "You look naughty wearing that." → What B is trying to say: "Yeah. I don't think that'd work, Buddy."

A: Thanks for helping me! I owe you a big one. B: Don't say something so yarashii! → What B doesn't mean: "Don't say something obscene like that!" → What B is trying to say: "Don't mention it! It wasn't a big deal."

A: The snacks I was saving have gone moldy. Ughh, yarashii! → What A is trying to say: "Can't eat my snacks since they're moldy. Fuck my stupid baka life! So unpleasant!"

You can also watch these few YT shorts for more examples on the nuances of "yarashii" in Kansaiben (requires an intermediate level of understanding Japanese): Shorts1, Shorts2, Shorts3, Shorts4, and Shorts5.

TL;DR一When Shion described the rain garden as having a "yarashii metsuki" he meant it that someone from Hotarubi was watching with such unpleasant eyes. The original JP text doesn't have any object but in English they're supposed to watch "you". I'm not sure if it means "you (MC)" or "you (Shion himself/general you)" but perhaps the ambiguity is intentional?

I think the EN loc translating it as "leery eyes" is perfect as it captures both the nuances of being regarded as cautious/suspicious while still keeping the possibility of a somewhat sexual motivation behind it (the same way how the word "yarashii" might sound to a Japanese speaker).