Notes: SideM LOS WT Germany

Pretty long overdue but finally getting this out! Been a little inactive but hoping to still TL some things every now and then. Definitely have one thing in my backlog that I’m working on so hopefully people are looking forward to that. Also planning to start a bigger project soon. Will be giving more details on that once I have some decent progress.

This notes post will have a few TL Notes but will also have random ramblings and thoughts that I had while translating. There will be some cultural notes so hopefully there will be something new to learn for everyone. If you have not read the event yet, the link is here.

Chapter 1

WT Germany begins with Jun stating that he did his research on Germany before the trip and I can say that I definitely didn’t. haha Did whatever research that I needed as I translated.

Hokuto mentions that woodcraft is very big in Germany. It’s not something that I immediately associate with Germany but it makes sense after thinking about the various types of souvenirs that one can buy such as the music box, nutcracker, and miniature figure that were mentioned in this event.

Asselin is the first in the group to find a souvenir which is a music box made of wood. In the Japanese text, Hokuto refers to the music box as an オルゴール (orugo-ru) which, as shown by the katakana (the writing system for borrowed words), is “orgel”, the German word for music box. Orgel can also refer to the musical instrument organ in German. However, based on the context of souvenirs, we can assume that it means music box in this case. Side note, orgel is also the word for music box in Dutch. There are similarities between German and Dutch, however there are quite a few differences. I won’t get into the details since it’s not related but I thought it was interesting when I was reading about it here despite not being familiar with either language.

The next souvenir that is mentioned is a nutcracker doll with the same color as the High×Joker outfits. The nutcracker dolls are a bright red which goes along with the fact that this World Tre@sure event was around Christmas time, as also shown by the event costumes.

Nutcrackers themselves are also a symbol of Christmas. Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet suite, The Nutcracker further illustrates this point as the story takes place during Christmas time. Although Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer, his score is popular all over the world with famous movements such as Dance of the Reed Flutes and Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker is popular to the point where I’ve played and performed various parts of the suite several times for orchestra.) As shown in this WT, words cross over country borders in the same way music does.

(The color of the clothes on this nutcracker is similar to that of our High×Joker outfits.)

Furthermore, nutcracker dolls are a symbol of good luck in Germany. In the event, Jun is reluctant to buy souvenirs until after the live. However, Kei tells Jun to value the special encounter with the nutcracker doll as the opportunity to buy the doll may never arrive again.

Image Credit here

We won’t know if Kei urged Jun because of the good luck that nutcrackers symbolize in Germany. Although, it may be romantic to think that Kei wanted to spread good luck to Jun who in turn would further spread that good luck to the rest of High×Joker by gifting the nutcrackers.

Nowadays, nutcrackers are mostly for decoration. Back in the day though, in addition to being decorative, nutcrackers also served the purpose of cracking nuts as evident from the name. A nut would be inserted in the mouth of the nutcracker and then the lever on the back of the nutcracker controlled the mouth that would enable the nut to be bitten down and cracked.

The last souvenir mentioned is the miniature horse figure that Kei purchases for Rei. It is likely that the horse figure is made of wood to go along with the craftsmanship of Germany that is mentioned earlier. The more important thing though is the fact that Kei buys the figure for Rei because Rei loves horses and could envision how happy he would be receiving the gift. Hopefully Asselin and Hokuto also bought souvenirs that made their fellow unit mates happy.

Chapter 2

Hokuto, Jun, Asselin, and Kei stay in a hotel based on a famous fairy tale. The event never mentions the name but the name of the fairy tale actually differs depending on the country. For simplicity, I will refer to the fairy tale as Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty has the basic format of an evil fairy foretelling the curse of the princess where she will die if she pricks her finger on something. The king and queen then do what they can to remove all somethings from the kingdom but it is futile. The princess pricks her finger and falls into a deep sleep. The prince then finds her and wakes her up.

I say “pricks her finger on something” because in some versions, the something that the princess pricks her finger on is a piece of flax rather than the spinning wheel more commonly used today. And as for how the prince wakes the princess up, there are various versions of how this plays out but the most common one is love’s kiss breaking the curse.

If I recall correctly, this wheel part spins the thread, I think?
Let’s see, the part where the princess from the tale pricked her finger was…

When I was in University, I took a course that focused on fairy tales. We learned that fairy tales were passed down orally which is why there are so many different versions of the same story.

Different versions of Sleeping Beauty range from being published in France, England, and of course, Germany. In Germany, the more well-known version is the one written by the Brothers Grimm where the story is called Briar Rose. This name may be familiar to those who watched the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty because that was one of the names mentioned in the movie. Disney also uses the name Aurora most likely as a throwback to the French version of the story where the princess is called Aurore. Earlier versions of the tale have the princess unnamed.

The hotel that Hokuto, Jun, Asselin, and Kei stay at really is a safety hazard. Seems like the needle of the spinning wheel isn’t covered at all. Children could end up poking themselves if they want to meet their prince or princess charming.

PSA: Don’t prick yourselves on flax or a spinning wheel. Actually, just don’t prick yourself.

Chapter 3

This chapter made me hungry. You have been warned.

Traveling to other countries means going around to eat food. The two foods mentioned are German sausage and baumkuchen.

German sausage is mentioned briefly but is a must-eat in Germany (although I’ve never been there). Asselin describes this dish as “meat sealed by the entrails of a fierce beast”. He is referring to the casing of the sausage which is traditionally made from the intestine of an animal.

The food that has the focus of this chapter is baumkuchen which literally means “tree cake” in German where baum means “tree” and kuchen means “cake”.

Baumkuchen is called “tree cake” because of how the cake layers resemble the growth rings of a tree. The cake is made by spinning the cake batter on a spit over a heat source much like how Asselin demonstrates for the others. This allows the layers to be cooked on the spit layer by layer. Baumkuchen is also a very popular dessert in Japan. Please see a cute anime girl eating without paying for it here. (Do not worry, the guy properly paid for it after the clip.)

A classical confectionery known to be cultivated by pliant timber…
Hmm…this intrigues me.

Asselin hopes to make baumkuchen for the rest of Cafe Parade when he returns. Hope they all enjoy.

Chapter 4

In this chapter, after making baumkuchen, Asselin gets roped into a street performance. Although he is unable to convey through words because of the language barrier (including chuuni-speak), he is able to show his feelings through his gestures.

This is why the title of the chapter is “Words that Crossed Over Country Borders”. Words can be conveyed between people even if they are from different countries. What is important are the feelings of those communicating and what they want to say.

Speaking of using words from a different country, Kei actually uses the German word gemütlich to describe Asselin’s performance. Gemütlich means pleasant and cheerful. It can also mean cozy which is why I translated Hokuto’s next line as that he was comforted by the performance. However, please keep in mind that I was liberal with my translation because Hokuto actually says that he was inspired by the performance since it gives him an idea for their live tomorrow which the four discuss over dinner in the next chapter.

Chapter 5

Food is yet again mentioned as the group have dinner and then discuss their plan for the live tomorrow.

The first food mentioned is a frankfurter that Jun shares with Asselin. Jun also sets aside a portion for Satan which makes Asselin happy.

Spätzle is the other food mentioned in this chapter. The dish comes from the German word spatz and spatzen which respectively mean sparrow and sparrows. Spätzle is a pasta dish where the noodles are small and dumpling-like. I’ve seen sources where the dish refers to sparrows because the dumplings look like sparrows, or because the dumplings look like sparrow scraps, and another because the word can also mean clump. I am not sure about the word origin for spätzle but you can never go wrong with pasta. It sounds very delicious.

As expected of Hokuto, the nobleman of darkness
who is crowned with the stars of the Big Dipper!

The TL note that I have for this chapter is when Asselin associates the Big Dipper with Hokuto. Ignoring the fact that this can be some innuendo, let us go back to the Japanese text for this. The Big Dipper in Japanese is known as 七星 (shichisei) which uses the characters for “seven” and “star”. This refers to the seven stars that make up the big dipper. Before looking it up, I actually thought it might have referred to Jupiter (Hokuto’s unit) and counted what number planet away from the sun it was. By the way, Jupiter is the 5th planet away from the sun so that method was wrong. Then of course, I figured out that it referred to the big dipper. I actually had no clue why Asselin associated Hokuto with the big dipper at this point though. I knew it wasn’t an innuendo even if I kept thinking that several times. After further looking into it, I found out that the full name for the big dipper is 北斗七星 (hokutoshichisei). I am not too familiar with astronomy but I guess the big dipper is in the north. Either way, it was a fun fact to learn.

Hokuto, Jun, Asselin, and Kei finish up their strategy meeting and prepare for the live which is the next day.

Chapter 6

The day of the live has arrived and the chapter begins with Hokuto fixing Kei’s collar.

Fufu, the state of my collar is as askew as a staccato.
The way I’m feeling right now, I’m sure that I’m giving off the same type of impression.

Kei refers to his crooked collar as being askew as a staccato. A staccato note in music refers to a sharply articulated short note. The comparison is that his collar was in disarray in the same way a staccato note plays suddenly in a piece of music. This chapter also talks about Kei’s feelings about the live. Being back in the country where he resided for so long as an idol is something that he never thought would happen. Kei is likely feeling both nervous as well as excited which is why his feelings are like staccato notes. In a way, one can say that Kei’s heart is playing staccato notes both from nerves as well as anticipation.

Chapter 7

Chapter 6 is left with the band telling Kei that they have a suggestion for the live which involves an accordion. The band would like one of the idols to play it. Both Kei and Hokuto urge Jun to play the accordion. Although Jun is reluctant at first, with Kei’s assurance, Jun takes advantage of his special meeting of a lifetime.

In order to meet everyone’s expectations, I will do my best!

Honestly, I’ve never thought about it but the accordion was especially featured in this WT because it originated in Germany from the 19th century. All of the cultural details in the WT events are so interesting to discover.

Once the live begins, Hokuto begins his emcee presumably in German because the Japanese text is stylized with 《 》 brackets indicating German speech and Hokuto’s emcee is followed up with a comment from Kei regarding how good Hokuto’s German is.

Hokuto-san’s German is glatt.
Hearing it makes me feel at home.

Kei uses the German word glatt to describe Hokuto’s German. Glatt means “smooth” which refers to Hokuto’s speech style sounding like a fluent German person. Although Kei doesn’t explicitly use Japanese in this case, the German word glatt seems to be synonymous with the Japanese word ペラペラ (perapera) which means to speak fluently.

Magnificent, Hokuto!
You have received divine protection from the King of Gods,
you, as the emissary from the planet Jupiter!

Please note that Asselin did not say Jupiter here. He does say planet though so I decided to add my own twist by adding Hokuto’s unit name. I usually try not to go wild with translating for the most part so please forgive me this one time. Chuuni-speak is difficult to decipher so I just wanted to have a little bit of fun. haha

《Citizens of light, praise the parade of darkness!

And now, in concert of our aria,

let us fully conceal this celebratory banquet in darkness!》

Imagine, Kei had to translate this to German for Asselin to say during the live.

Last Chapter

The live parade is a success and we think everything is over….but the spectators are still singing?! I’d like to think this is the writers’ way of squeezing large amounts of alcohol (especially beer) consumption into the story but I might be looking too much into it. Germany is known for beer so I would not be surprised if this is how it is mentioned without outright mentioning alcohol. Either way, glad everyone had fun.

Afterword

WT Germany was a lot of work to translate but it was a great learning experience. Forgot to mention this but anytime that Kei used German, it was written in katakana so it was especially difficult to figure out what German word it was. Asselin’s chuuni-speak was also an adventure. I’ll admit that there were some frustrating moments but overall, it was really fun translating. Hope everyone enjoyed it.

Notes: SideM Mobage Magazine Ryo (plus WT impressions)

Hello, apologies for the late post. With the combo of translating Ryo’s magazine on impulse as well as ranking for WT India (and ranking in other mobage), I needed a break. After taking a good break, I am ready to work on some writing. Will be writing about the Ryo magazine that I tl’d before for his birthday as well as my impressions on the WT series in SideM.

Ryo Magazine

I have translated the Cowboy Live magazine which can be seen here. Will be going over dialects and use of liberal translation. Although this is a Ryo magazine, most of the points actually pertain to Daigo. Hope these explanations are helpful.

Dialects

From what I’ve seen, anime translates almost any dialect into a Southern accent most likely due to the fact that it is the easiest way to differentiate between different dialects. Due to this, it becomes confusing to those who are unfamiliar with Japan to differentiate between the different dialects. Please note that I am excluding dubs to make this point since dubs are usually more about localization rather than 1:1 translation.

To make things simple, I will only be covering Hiroshima dialect since the dialect is used often in SideM with Daigo.

Hiroshima Dialect

Hiroshima dialect, also known as 広島弁/Hiroshima-ben, is characterized with a few different speech patterns compared to standard Japanese. Please note that due to a popular yakuza film, the Hiroshima dialect often gets associated with yakuza in media as a result. This is also illustrated in SideM with the heavy implication that Daigo is the 6th generation heir to a yakuza family. Daigo’s family situation is never directly stated due to the negative image that yakuza have in Japan. Regardless of Daigo’s family matters, it does not change the fact that he is from Hiroshima and the fact that he speaks the dialect. I will now continue to explain the different aspects of the Hiroshima dialect.

An example of Hiroshima dialect is shown in the first page of this Ryo magazine.

Ryo: Well, let’s head over to the outfit fitting. Daigo-kun! Kazuki-san!
Daigo: Ya sure are more fired up than usual today, aren’t ya?

To be fired up about something is expressed as 張り切る/harikiru. I currently have this verb in what is called the plain form. To be currently fired up, the verb must be conjugated to 張り切っている/harikitteiru. This would be the correct conjugation in standard Japanese. However in Hiroshima dialect, the ている becomes とる as shown in the magazine. Therefore, the verb’s final form in Hiroshima dialect becomes 張り切っとる.

Something else that I would like to point out is Daigo ending the sentence with のー/no-. While it is common in Japanese to end sentences with の/no, the extended sound with the line is often used with older people. This may be the influence of Daigo being surrounded by those who are older than him when he was with his family in Hiroshima. While this speech pattern isn’t unique to Hiroshima dialect, it is still an important point to know.

I tried to show Daigo’s use of his Hiroshima dialect by using “ya” instead of “you”. I will admit, I am not consistent when it’s a case of a character always speaking in the dialect, in this case, Daigo. It’s always a challenge to translate dialects for a couple of reasons. The first reason is the different speech style. As someone that has been taught with standard Japanese, different dialects are often scary to read. Even after getting used to reading them, the second reason translating dialects is difficult is due to the fact that the reader would not have an easy time reading through stylized dialects, darn tootin’! Showing translated dialects often feel forced especially if the character is always speaking the dialect like Daigo. This is why I’ll usually only do a line or so for “dialect speak”. There are some cases where I feel that it’s imperative to translate dialects in the example of a character slipping into their home dialect after becoming flustered, getting overly excited, or simply speaking with someone from back home. Example of the last one can be shown here in a clip from Hidamari Sketch.

Ryo: S-so that’s how it is… I see… My world of manliness…
Daigo: Well, all’s well that ends well. These definitely seem like us! Wahaha
Kazuki: …Indeed, the outfit suits both of you well, Ryo, Daigo.

Other aspects of Hiroshima dialect can be seen in the page above. Daigo ending his sentence with じゃろ/jaro (can also be じゃろう/jarou) is the equivalent of using だろう/darou in casual standard Japanese. The other use of Hiroshima dialect is Daigo’s use of ワシ/washi for his pronoun. Males in Hiroshima often use ワシ/washi. This would be the equivalent of using わたし/watashi or any other pronoun. If we look at the rest of F-LAGS, Kazuki uses おれ/ore while Ryo uses 僕/boku. Murakami Tomoe from The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls is another idol in the iM@S franchise from Hiroshima whose family likely has ties with the yakuza (of course, this is not explicitly stated). The pronoun Tomoe uses is うち/uchi which females in Hiroshima often use. Her voice clips can be heard here. Card translated below (because I happen to have it in Deresute).

何を持ってきとるんじゃ、おどれらは！？うちがいつ、こんなフリフリでヒラヒラの服を持ってこいと言うたんじゃ！右も左も要らん！うちのスカジャンを早ぉ持ってこいや！
What in the world did all of ya bring here?! Just when did I say to bring these frilly frilly clothes! I don’t need either the right or left one! Hurry and bring my usual jacket!

Hopefully the points I mentioned help with understanding Daigo’s speech pattern. Dialects can be difficult to understand but I think they are pretty fun once you get the hang of them.

Liberal Translations

In my opinion, the most important and most difficult part of translation is keeping the original meaning while having the work read smoothly. A lot of times, translations either sound really awkward trying to keep the original meaning or sound really off trying to have the work read smoothly. I believe that the job of a translator is to create a balance between the two to maximize the reader’s enjoyment. I personally tend to try and keep the original meaning more than having the narrative be smooth but I am trying my best to keep this harmony. Lately, I have been trying to be a little more liberal with my translations. My translations often sound awkward but I am doing my best for everyone’s enjoyment.

Hanamaru Egao

Daigo’s classic phrase of はなまる笑顔/hanamaru egao is a very important part of Daigo’s philosophy on life. Smiles get you everywhere.

The direct translation for 笑顔/egao is smile while はなまる/hanamaru is flower circle. Smile is pretty self-explanatory. The flower circle is often shown in Japan when you do well on a test. Please see the stamps below.

Found these stamps on Adobe Stock

School teachers will often draw the flowers similarly to those in the first row if a student receives high marks on a test. Technology has advanced though so many teachers now purchase stamps instead. When I took Japanese in college, I would receive stamps like these on my homework and tests whenever I did well. It felt like I was in elementary school again but it always put a smile on my face seeing these stamps. Plus, there are a lot of cute variations now including mascots like Pokemon.

Since はなまる/hanamaru is often associated with receiving a high score, one can say that a はなまる笑顔/hanamaru egao is a smile worth 10/10, meaning full marks.

The SideM wiki uses “gold star” which does indeed convey the meaning of “full marks” for those that have received those from their teachers in elementary school. Please note that this translation is correct.

…Now that you mention it, this outfit fits perfectly with Daigo-kun’s full flowered smile!

However, I personally went with full flowered smile for はなまる笑顔/hanamaru egao instead because I wanted to keep the representation of the flower meaning 10/10. To convey the meaning of 10/10, I thought about how in Japan, a 100% on a test meant a flower stamp so I went with full for “full marks” to also create alliteration with flower. I also kept the flower imagery in case it ever came up in events such as the sunflower one in LOS as seen here. Side note, 💮is one of the options shown when typing はなまる/hanamaru.

Sniping

I’ll snipe everyone’s hearts with a pose that fits me best!

狙い撃ち/neraiuchi means sharpshooting, sniping, etc. I mostly went with sniping out of preference. This page of the magazine as well as the title of the magazine implies that Ryo is aiming to capture the hearts of the fans. Reminds me of Persona 5. haha

Sniping successful!

My small use of liberal translating is at the end of the magazine. The page says 大成功/daiseikou which means “big success”. However, to keep the sniping theme consistent throughout the magazine, I chose to make it “Sniping Successful” also creating fun alliteration.

WT Impressions

The WT series in SideM is almost over. All of us were surprised to see Teru’s first ranking event in LOS to be the beginning of this series in France. Ever since then, it’s been exciting to see the different combination of characters as well as seeing which country is chosen. I went ahead and listed out the first 10 WTs. Before anyone asks, yes, Hawaii is in America. Yes, there are technically 2 WT Americas. No, it doesn’t make sense. We all just have to roll with it.

WT 01: France (Teru, Hideo, Suzaku, Amehiko)
WT 02: America (Yusuke, Haruna, Ryu)
WT 03: Spain (Michio, Ren, Shiro)
WT 04: China (Shouta, Minori, Takeru, Daigo)
WT 05: Hawaii (Rui, Saki, Kanon)
WT 06: Germany (Hokuto, Jun, Asselin, Kei)
WT 07: Finland (Pierre, Natsuki, Kyosuke, Kuro)
WT 08: Canada (Hayato, Makio, Rei, Nao)
WT 09: Russia (Jiro, Yukihiro, Chris)
WT 10: Thailand (Tsubasa, Shoma, Soichiro, Michiru)

WT 11: India

WT India was the first WT event that I ranked for the SSR. While it was tough playing, I enjoyed the event a lot. Could not have asked for a better event for Ryo.

First, I like the members chosen. Touma, Kirio, and Ryo all have very different voices, but I think their voices complement well together. Even though Touma and Ryo were together in TRYS, I still enjoyed seeing the two together again respectively as a member of the first male unit and the first male idol in the iM@S series. As far as Kirio, I honestly wasn’t sure where he would be placed among the remaining SideM characters that have yet to be in a WT event at the time due to his unique voice. I was relieved to see that it all worked out in the end. Now I’m hoping Kirio gets a ranking event in LOS in the near future because I believe he is the only character that has not had his own event yet. A personal bonus with these members is the fact that I am very familiar with all of the voice actors (Terashima Takuma, Yamashita Daiki, and Sanpei Yuko) involved in this combination. As mentioned earlier, their voices sound really nice together and it shows in the song.

The song and outfits for WT India are great as shown in the CD preview. Despite playing the WT India song several times, I still enjoy how catchy it is. As far as the outfits, while I know the two are from different countries, the WT India outfits reminded me a lot of Aladdin, which is my favorite Disney movie. The fancy and bright outfits matching the mood of the song put a smile to my face.

Flex time, you have been warned. I had some struggles with the event itself because I was bad about saving and had a pretty limited number of jellies (which are the stamina recovery items in LOS). I was very sad that I couldn’t get maxed Ryo. However, LOS was very generous with the WT scouting tickets that I received and I ended up with every member. Thank you, LOS. (Now please give me Ryo’s perm SSR, TRYS SR, and current Fes SSR.)

Used up all my luck in LOS

The thing that I think I enjoyed most about the event was the hype from the fans about a possible iM@S crossover. The reason behind this is because around the time the WT India event was ending, a certain secretary from a different iM@S branch was on a training journey. In The iDOLM@STER Shiny Colors, secretary Nanakusa Hazuki’s first stop in her journey was India as can be seen here. As someone who follows Shiny Colors very closely, I was very excited to see the crazy timing. In the end, I do not think the SideM idols met up with Hazuki but it’s always nice to hope for the one day we get more cross-branch interactions in the iM@S franchise.

WT 12: United Kingdom

United Kingdom members, outfits, and song have all been revealed earlier today. First off, an all intelligent idol grouping is pretty cool with Kaoru, Genbu, and Kazuki. The cards look really great here. Also, the MV is beautiful, click here to watch.

WT 13: ???

With today’s reveal of WT 12, this means the last WT members are Kyoji, Shiki, Seiji, and Sora. Can’t wait for the reveal in a few months!

Afterword

WT hype
Edit: WT 13 is Japan. Can’t say that I didn’t expect it but it would have been nice for the remaining members to travel outside of Japan. The theme is pretty fitting though since the image is based on how the world views Japan. Overall, nice wrap up. Good luck to those ranking for Kyoji.

TL: SideM LOS WT Germany

This took a lot of time, but finally finished translating World Tre@sure in Germany! Request was made by Green. In addition to making the request, they were really awesome and helped me proofread this for everyone to read! Please enjoy reading.

第1話　異国での一期一会
Dai Ichi Wa Ikoku de no Ichigo Ichie
Chapter 1 – A Single Encounter of a Lifetime in a Foreign Country

<Germany・Downtown>

Fuyumi Jun
I had done my research on Germany before coming here,
but now I can really say what a beautiful place this is.

Tsuzuki Kei
Have you taken a liking to Germany’s townscape?
The hotel that we’re staying at is also a
beautiful place, according to Producer-san.

Asselin BB II
Ah Ha Ha Ha!
Satan is also quite delighted at the fact that a banquet
will be held in a foreign land full of fascination!

Ijuuin Hokuto
I’m really looking forward to it. Like everyone else before us
who did a great job in the other countries, let’s all do our best.

Fuyumi Jun
Sorry to interrupt, but I just heard from Producer-san that
we have some time before checking into the hotel.

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, that seems to be the case.
I was thinking that we could take a break somewhere until then…
is something the matter?

Fuyumi Jun
Since we have the free time, I was wondering
if we could wander around the city here in Germany
to prepare for our live the day after tomorrow.

Ijuuin Hokuto
That sounds good. I’ve heard that our live this time involves
parading around the city with the band, so I was also thinking about
how I wanted to walk around and get a feel for the city’s atmosphere.

Asselin BB II
What a marvelous idea, Jun! Come now, my brethren,
let us proceed with the pursuit of the town here in this foreign land!

<Street Market>

Fuyumi Jun
Is this a street market?
Come to think of it…Kei-san, you used to live in Germany, correct?

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, when I was younger.
I used to walk around street markets like this one quite often back then.
Fufu, how nostalgic.

Asselin BB II
Hrm, is this a box that performs a melody to call upon the darkness?
This is quite the fine item that is refined by the shrubbery of all the chaotic world.

Ijuuin Hokuto
I’ve heard that a lot of craftsmanship in Germany involves handiworks made of wood.
That music box is indeed a wonderful piece of art.

Fuyumi Jun
Yes, it truly is…hm?
(The color of the clothes on this nutcracker is similar to that of our High×Joker outfits.)
(Souvenir…no, I’ll buy souvenirs after our live is a success.
Anyway, we’ve only just arrived to Germany so there must be more…)

(The color of the clothes on this nutcracker is similar to that of our High×Joker outfits.)

Tsuzuki Kei
What a lovely doll. Are you getting that for everyone in High×Joker?

Fuyumi Jun
Kei-san! …Eh? That miniature horse figure…

Tsuzuki Kei
This is a souvenir for Rei-san.
When I found it, I heard the warm sound of Rei-san happily laughing.

Fuyumi Jun
Are you already buying souvenirs when we just got here?

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, you as well, Jun-san?

Fuyumi Jun
I, well…I was thinking that I should wait and buy souvenirs only after our live is a success.

Tsuzuki Kei
Fufu, Jun-san is quite the earnest one. You’re just like Rei-san.
However, there is no guarantee that we’ll find the same product in the next town,
so I want to value this special encounter.

Fuyumi Jun
Special…encounter…

Ijuuin Hokuto
You two, it’s about time for us to move to the next area.

Tsuzuki Kei
Ah yes, it already is that time. I’m going to go buy this, could you wait a bit for me?

Asselin BB II
Jun, are you not also partaking in the transaction of darkness?

Fuyumi Jun
…Yes, I will go line up together with Kei-san and buy this!

Ijuuin Hokuto
Haha. I also need to think about what I should get for both Touma and Shouta.

第2話　おとぎの城の糸車
Dai Ni Wa Otogi no Shiro no Itoguruma
Chapter 2 – The Spinning Wheel in the Castle of Fairy Tales

<Germany・Old Castle Hotel>

Asselin BB II
Ah Ha Ha Ha!
Gaze upon the magnificence of the ancient castle concealed by darkness and illusion!
This here is a castle fit for a feudal lord worthy of the great Satan!

Fuyumi Jun
Asselin-san, you’re scaring the other hotel guests.

Ijuuin Hokuto
I heard from Producer-san that we would be staying at a hotel
based on the setting of a certain children’s story…
But I never imagined that the building would be a remodeled castle.

Tsuzuki Kei
Oh wow… The spinning wheel from the story has also been reproduced here.
I recall it being that if you pricked your finger on the spinning wheel,
you would fall into an eternal sleep.

Asselin BB II
What! A spinning wheel hidden with a cursed spell…truly quite fascinating.
Let us be off, my brethren! I must confirm this antique novelty
from the magical anecdote with the power of my eye!

Fuyumi Jun
Ah, please wait!
…Asselin-san seems like he is having fun.
Shiki-kun and Hayato would also fool around having fun if they were here.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Ahaha, Touma and Shouta would also act the same way.
…Oh, looks like he made it to the spinning wheel.

Asselin BB II
Oho, so this is the spinning wheel that tempts one into a deep sleep.
The cursed antique apparatus concealed with the power of darkness…
Satan also seems to sense the sinister presence within the device.

Tsuzuki Kei
If I recall correctly, this wheel part spins the thread, I think?
Let’s see, the part where the princess from the tale pricked her finger was…

If I recall correctly, this wheel part spins the thread, I think?
Let’s see, the part where the princess from the tale pricked her finger was…

Fuyumi Jun
Seems quite unusual to think that it’s okay to prick yourself…
Ah, Kei-san, please be careful with that pointed end.

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, I see. Thank you, Jun-san.
Oh, this is…

Asselin BB II
Kei!?
C-c-c-certainly this doesn’t mean, that Kei has been trapped
by the curse of eternal rest?!

Tsuzuki Kei
I’m okay. I was only in the midst of thought.

Ijuuin Hokuto
I’m glad that’s all it was.
If Tsuzuki-san ended up in a deep slumber, I don’t know how
we would have explained it to Kagura-kun so thank goodness for that.

Tsuzuki Kei
It is all right.
I was just thinking about how would be such a waste
if I were to sleep through everything. And also…fufu
(After hearing the fairy tale from this country again,
it seems as though I’m looking forward to performing
the live with the four of us here now more than ever.)

Asselin BB II
The sinful world of fairy tales…its charm is endless.
It is fortunate that Kei is unharmed.
Let us now continue our expedition of the ancient castle!

第3話　甘い匂いに誘われて
Dai San Wa Amai Nioi ni Sasowarete
Chapter 3 – Enticed by a Sweet Scent

<Germany・Downtown>

Tsuzuki Kei
Producer-san, where will we be going today?
…Ah, yes. We will be moving to another hotel.

Asselin BB II
Umu. This evening, we will be preparing the banquet’s ritual altar,
while also reserving our mana!

Fuyumi Jun
Moving hotels is also a part of sightseeing after all.
That is why we also get to wander around the city of Germany today as well.
…Hm? It seems quite festive over there.

Ijuuin Hokuto
I also smell something great, wonder if it is some kind of food stall?
Let us all go take a look, shall we?
This seems to be food stall city here. Everything looks delicious.
Did we want to try one of the local delicacies?

Asselin BB II
Very well!
First, let us feast on the meat sealed by the entrails of a fierce beast…
Hm hmm!?

Fuyumi Jun
Asselin-san, what’s wrong?
Oh, that’s…baumkuchen?

Tsuzuki Kei
Ah, looks like it.
Seems like one can try out the making of baumkuchen over there.

Asselin BB II
A classical confectionery known to be cultivated by pliant timber…
Hmm…this intrigues me.
Soichiro would also be very much interested in this.
Let us be off, my brethren!
We will purify the offering of this land to perform the ritual that we seek!

A classical confectionery known to be cultivated by pliant timber…
Hmm…this intrigues me.

<Afterwards…>

Fuyumi Jun
I was surprised when Asselin-san suddenly said that he would
make some baumkuchen but…as expected, it’s quite delicious.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Yes, it’s really delicious. If it were just the rest of us,
we wouldn’t have been able to make something this tasty.
Thank you very much, Asselin-san.

Asselin BB II
No need for your gratitude. I rejoice in the fact that I was able
to raise the provisions for replenishing our mana.
In the dawn of our return, I intend to replicate the ritual
for the purpose of entertaining my band of brethren!

Ijuuin Hokuto
Yes, I’m sure that everyone in Cafe Parade will be quite delighted.
…Oh, Tsuzuki-san. Is something the matter?

Tsuzuki Kei
Ahh, my apologies. I was wondering about the sound over there
and was listening attentively to it.

Fuyumi Jun
Do you perhaps mean the street performance over there?

Tsuzuki Kei
…I see, it was that street performance.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Hm? One of them is walking over towards us. It can’t be…

Tsuzuki Kei
Fufu, it is exactly what you are thinking.
Seems like they want someone to appear as a guest in their street performance.

第4話　国境を越えた言語
Dai Yon Wa Kokkyou wo Koeta Gengo
Chapter 4 – Words that Crossed Over Country Borders

<Germany・Downtown>

Fuyumi Jun
Performing as a guest in a street performance…
What would they have us do?

Tsuzuki Kei
It seems like nothing too difficult.
Just simply performing together would be enough.

Fuyumi Jun
Sounds pretty simple. By the way they’re acting,
I think they’re asking for Asselin-san…

Asselin BB II
What?!
The citizens of light, want me for the banquet of their foreign land, why?
Do they perhaps, sense the magical power of Satan…?!

Tsuzuki Kei
…I see. The performers wanted to invite Asselin-san to perform together
after seeing Asselin-san enjoying himself while making baumkuchen just now.

Ijuuin Hokuto
This may be your big chance, Asselin-san.
You might be able to charm the people of Germany with your performance.

Asselin BB II
H-Hokuto… Guargh…
The residents of this foreign land, as minions of darkness…
Ha… I fully comprehend!
If that is the case, out from the black abyss,
together with Satan, we will demonstrate our dark magical power! …We’ll be off!
(Hmm… So we clap here, and pose as such.
Hm, this sound of cheering is…!?)
(Even without the intermediary of the spiritual language,
as long as the soul exists within this dance performance,
the will of darkness will exhibit a resonance, or so that seems to be the case.
Kukuku, my soul is in high spirits!)

Fuyumi Jun
Amazing…Asselin-san, is able to convey his feelings only through gestures.
The spectators as well as the performers look like they are having fun.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Yes. It truly is a wonderful sight to see.
Even if we speak a different language and come from a different culture,
we are all able to laugh together as well as enjoy each other’s company.
I want us to be able to demonstrate that in tomorrow’s live as well.

Asselin BB II
(…The delight that I feel from the citizens of light is quite pleasant.
It seems as though the sacrament of darkness that I have performed,
has also mesmerized the subjects of this foreign land.)

Fuyumi Jun
Asselin-san, thank you very much.
It was a really outstanding performance.

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, it certainly was superb.
Gemütlich… The timbre was quite fitting for Asselin-san.

Ijuuin Hokuto
I agree, it definitely was.
I felt very comforted by Asselin-san’s performance.

Asselin BB II
Jun, Kei, Hokuto…
Fwa ha ha ha! The rulers of the coming banquet are the 4 of us.
We shall exemplify the power of darkness rising
to the subjects of this foreign land!

Ijuuin Hokuto
Haha, that’s true. Then, while also building upon Asselin-san’s hard work,
shall we go eat while we have our final strategy meeting for tomorrow’s live?

第5話　作戦会議の食卓
Dai Go Wa Sakusen Kaigi no Shokutaku
Chapter 5 – Strategy Meeting at the Dining Table

<Germany・Restaurant>

Fuyumi Jun
German home cooking is really delicious.
Producer-san, thank you very much for finding this great restaurant.

Ijuuin Hokuto
German cuisine gives off the impression that a lot of meat is used…
However, as expected, there really are various types of meat dishes out there.

German cuisine gives off the impression that a lot of meat is used…

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes. Meat dishes are the main part of the German dining table.

Asselin BB II
I see. This is quite rich in flavor yet,
it seems to be that there are many provisions with deep flavor such as this.

Fuyumi Jun
Asselin-san, this frankfurter is also delicious.
I have also set aside a portion for Satan-san as well
so please try the dish when you have a moment.

Asselin BB II
Ooh!
I thank thou for the consideration, Jun.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Tsuzuki-san, have you tried this pasta yet?
If you’d like, we could share it.

Tsuzuki Kei
Thank you. That pasta is späetzle, right?
How nostalgic, I’d love a bite.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Now that our stomachs are nice and full,
let us begin our strategy meeting for tomorrow’s live, shall we?

Tsuzuki Kei
Hokuto-san, you sound like you’re enjoying yourself.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Oops, looks like I have been found out by Tsuzuki-san.
To be quite frank, I thought of something
while we were watching Asselin-san in the street performance.

Asselin BB II
W-what?! Are you suggesting that we will be performing
the banquet of darkness and drawing in the citizens of light?!

Ijuuin Hokuto
That’s right. I believe that myself as well as the others felt that
we saw a performance where bonds crossed over country borders
and everyone’s enjoyment was brought forth
when we saw you perform, Asselin-san.
That was when I remembered something.
In order for us to make our way into the hearts of the spectators,
we should do something like the street performance from earlier…
In other words, we make the entire town our live stage,
and the spectators also become performers in the parade.
What do you all think?

Fuyumi Jun
I think it is a good idea!
While creating a stage that has a special type of feeling,
at the same time we will be able to deepen the bonds with our audience.

Asselin BB II
What a splendid proposition!
As expected of Hokuto, the nobleman of darkness
who is crowned with the stars of the Big Dipper!

Tsuzuki Kei
Playing music while making our way into the hearts of the townspeople…
Sounds like a fairy tale. I approve of this idea as well.

Ijuuin Hokuto
I’m glad that all of you are pleased with the idea.
What about Producer… Fufu, looks like I didn’t even have to ask.
Now then, to include a stage play into our current live setup,
I would like everyone’s opinion on how exactly we will
bring in the spectators into our performance!

第6話　故郷で告げる想い
Dai Roku Wa Furusato de Tsugeru Omoi
Chapter 6 – Feelings of Revelation in One’s Hometown

<Day of the Live…>

Fuyumi Jun
Looks like people have assembled here.
From this plaza, the live parade will begin then…
I’ve gotten a little nervous.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Just relax, Fuyumi-kun.
Hm? Tsuzuki-san, your collar is a bit askew.

Tsuzuki Kei
Thank you, Hokuto-san. Fufu, the state of my collar
is as askew as a staccato. The way I’m feeling right now,
I’m sure that I’m giving off the same type of impression.
…To tell the truth, ever since the first day we arrived in Germany
and I touched the spinning wheel at that old castle hotel,
I have been really looking forward to this day.

Asselin BB II
From the moment that you came into contact with
the spinning wheel with that hidden curse? Why…?

Tsuzuki Kei
To be honest, I never thought that I would visit this country
as an idol. That’s why even though we have arrived in Germany,
I’ve had a mysterious feeling about our job this time.
But, when I touched that spinning wheel, I realized something.
I was thinking that I myself have been anticipating
singing with these 4 members in this place of nostalgia.
…At that time, I was really glad that I didn’t fall asleep.
I’m happy that we will be able to perform music
with the 4 of us today. Thank you all so much.

Fuyumi Jun
Kei-san, that’s… I’m the one that wants to thank you.
It was thanks to Kei-san that I was able to realize
the importance of the occasional meeting of a lifetime…
Thank you very much for helping me realize.
Of course, I am also thankful to Hokuto-san and Asselin-san.
It’s because of these members that I was able to see
all of the scenes that we have seen here on our trip.

Asselin BB II
Myself as well. It was due to the blessing of my brethren that
I was able to be satisfied with spending our glorious moments
together. I give gratitude to ye!

Ijuuin Hokuto
Fufu, I feel the same way as everyone does.
It feels as though we have deepened our bonds with each other
while enjoying this place called Germany.
…With our hearts as one now, I can say this with great confidence.
We will definitely make today’s live a success with these members.

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, let’s have our melody reach the people of this country.
And let them sing along to our warm and kind music.

Fuyumi Jun
Ah, looks like the band has arrived.
Please take care of us for today’s live.

Asselin BB II
Let our harmonious resonance ring to the citizens of light!
With the occasion of our banquet,
let our dark harmony resound with this land!

Tsuzuki Kei
Oh my, you have a suggestion for us.
…Yes, yes. I understand, you have an accordion…

Ijuuin Hokuto
Tsuzuki-san? What in the world is their suggestion…?

第7話　街を彩るパレード
Dai Nana Wa Machi wo Irodoru Pareedo
Chapter 7 – The Parade that Will Color the Town

<Before the Live…>

Fuyumi Jun
Eh? Have me, play the accordion…?

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, they have a spare accordion
so they asked, “Will you play it for us?”
Jun-san, have you ever held an accordion?

Fuyumi Jun
During class in elementary school, sure…
But, if it’s an accordion,
both Kei-san and Hokuto-san can play it as well, right?

Ijuuin Hokuto
Fufu. Tsuzuki-san would have a difficult time carrying something heavy,
and I have the role of inviting our audience as guests to our performance.
I also think that Fuyumi-kun would be suitable to play the accordion.

Asselin BB II
Do not be anxious! Jun, you are one of the greater servants of darkness!
Thou will be able to perform using the box of black and white
to produce a resonance that will mesmerize the citizens of light,
and all will be able to dance along with great joy!

Tsuzuki Kei
You’ll be fine, just remember the same feeling that you get
when you play the keyboard in High×Joker. Also…

Fuyumi Jun
Is this, by any chance, another one of those
occasional meetings of a lifetime?

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes.
Since you have the opportunity, why not go for it?

Fuyumi Jun
…All right.
In order to meet everyone’s expectations, I will do my best!

<The Live Stage>

Ijuuin Hokuto
《People of Germany, ciao☆
Welcome to our live parade today!》
《I was really looking forward to meeting
all of the lovely Angel-chan and Angel-kun☆》
《Ever since we arrived to this country,
we have been able to enjoy ourselves in various ways…》
《However, I think that this live that will start now
will also definitely become everyone’s enjoyment!》

《People of Germany, ciao☆
Welcome to our live parade today!》

Tsuzuki Kei
Hokuto-san’s German is glatt.
Hearing it makes me feel at home.

Fuyumi Jun
Yes. Even though the contents of the speech should have
changed quite a bit since our discussion yesterday…

Asselin BB II
Magnificent, Hokuto!
You have received divine protection from the King of Gods,
you, as the emissary from the planet Jupiter!
We all must also follow through with the spirit of language!

Ijuuin Hokuto
《Now then, the parade will finally begin!
Fuyumi-kun and the others, are you ready?》

Fuyumi Jun
《Yes! …Good day, everyone!
I give thanks to the special meeting that is today
and promise to perform the most wonderful melody for you all!》

Tsuzuki Kei
《Let us all produce a tune that will make our hearts dance
as if we all jumped into the world of fairy tales.》

《Let us all produce a tune that will make our hearts dance
as if we all jumped into the world of fairy tales.》

Asselin BB II
《Citizens of light, praise the parade of darkness!
And now, in concert of our aria,
let us fully conceal this celebratory banquet in darkness!》

最終話　4人の音を重ねて
Sai Shuu Wa Yonin no Oto wo Kasanete
Last Chapter – Four Melodies Unify as One

<The Live Stage>

Ijuuin Hokuto
Fuyumi-kun, the tone quality of your accordion is wonderful.
The members of the band also seem really happy about
being able to perform this session with you, Fuyumi-kun.

Fuyumi Jun
Thank you very much.
Playing is a lot more fun than I had imagined…
It’s hard to believe how nervous I was earlier!

Playing is a lot more fun than I had imagined…
It’s hard to believe how nervous I was earlier!

Tsuzuki Kei
Jun-san, your melody sounds like you are having a lot of fun.
Oh my, it looks like we’ve gained another friend.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Ahaha, time for my turn in the spotlight.
All of the Angel-chan over there, I’ll teach you
some simple dance moves, so let’s dance together!

Asselin BB II
Ooh! The sound of Hokuto’s sonorous voice has yet again
colored the citizens of this foreign country with darkness…!
If that is the case, then I shall also
perform the ritual to release the seal of the abyss!

Tsuzuki Kei
Ah, I believe Asselin-san will
begin that performance soon.

Ijuuin Hokuto
So it seems. Fufu,
looks like we can expect even more excitement here.

Asselin BB II
(Even if my words are not communicated, I have in my power,
the aria and the expressions of my performance. In this region,
I will certainly invite the citizens of light to the world of darkness!)
Now, for the newly wicked servants that have gathered here at this land!
Along with Satan and myself, let us bring forth even more darkness!

Along with Satan and myself, let us bring forth even more darkness!

Fuyumi Jun
Wow… The spectators,
they’re singing along with Asselin-san!

Ijuuin Hokuto
Yes. Furthermore, they are also following his movements.
The experience from the street performance has paid off.
…Oh?

Tsuzuki Kei
(What a powerful harmony.
The joy and fun are overflowing from their entire beings…)

Asselin BB II
Ooh, a wonderfully beautiful voice is harmonizing with
the aria of the servants! Kei… art thou perhaps,
a melodious dark mage of black magic that manipulates the resonance?!

Fuyumi Jun
After being influenced by Kei-san’s singing,
everyone else’s singing voices have become even louder.
So amazing.

Tsuzuki Kei
Fufu, thank you.
However, I was only able to sing this way thanks to everyone here.
Besides, we still have melodies within ourselves
that we want to reach others with…am I right?

Ijuuin Hokuto
Of course. Until the moment that we march the final step of
the parade, let’s have our harmony resound wherever we go.

Fuyumi Jun
Yes! …All right, everyone!
Please sing together with us even more!

<After the Live…>

Tsuzuki Kei
Phew… Somehow,
it all ended with the blink of an eye.

Asselin BB II
Umu. Although I have exhausted my mana,
I am strangely content. Everyone’s aria is
still reverbing in my heart.

Ijuuin Hokuto
Yes. I also keep hearing everyone’s singing voice in my ears…
Ah, Producer. Thank you for your hard wor-…eh?

Fuyumi Jun
The spectators are still singing in the hall…?
Then, this singing is…

Ijuuin Hokuto
Guess it wasn’t our imaginations after all.
…Fufu, I suppose this means that we created something
that will remain in everyone’s hearts.

Tsuzuki Kei
Yes, it turned out to be a great parade.
I can hear those feelings from the singing.

Asselin BB II
Ah Ha Ha Ha! Thanks to us all,
we have colored this land as well in darkness!

Ijuuin Hokuto
This is a gratifying moment.
It would be great if we could perform another live like today.

Tsuzuki Kei
What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thing.
There are still many melodies within me that I want to express.

Fuyumi Jun
…Now that our hearts are as one, I understand.
Producer-san must feel the same as well.
It’s precisely because we were here that I am thankful for meeting
all of the special singing voices that we have encountered.
With the experience that we have gained this time, I hope that
it will give us all food for thought as we continue to do our best!

Fin

Afterword

This was a long journey but it was a great experience. I enjoyed learning a bit of German as well as learning a lot of chuuni-speak (thanks, Asselin). There will definitely be an extensive Notes post for WT Germany.

EDIT: Notes post here.

TL: SideM Mobage Magazine Ryo

It is Ryo’s birthday in Japan (9.15). I wanted to contribute something for his birthday because Ryo is the idol that got me into SideM. Since Ryo is my favorite SideM, I translated his magazine for the following event.

のびのび牧場☆Cowboy Live!
Nobinobi Bokujou☆Cowboy Live!
Relaxed Ranch☆Cowboy Live!

The magazine can be found here.

Notes Before Reading

  • Each page is separated by lines which are in *italics*.
  • Names are included for lines if more than one character is speaking in the same page.

みんなのハートを狙い撃ち！
Minna no Heart wo Neraiuchi!
Sniping Everyone’s Hearts!

Page 1

Ryo
Well, let’s head over to the outfit fitting.
Daigo-kun! Kazuki-san!

Daigo
Ya sure are more fired up than usual today, aren’t ya?

Page 2

That’s because the theme this time around is “Cowboys”!
I’ll be able to show how cool I am!

Page 3

sfx: Moo~

Page 4

Ryo
…um? Cow theme?

Daigo
Guessing the outfits were made with the image of the ranch in mind.

Kazuki
…Seems to have gone the pastoral route.

Page 5

Ryo
S-so that’s how it is… I see…
My world of manliness…

Daigo
Well, all’s well that ends well. These definitely seem like us!
Wahaha

Kazuki
…Indeed, the outfit suits both of you well, Ryo, Daigo.

Page 6

…Now that you mention it, this outfit fits perfectly
with Daigo-kun’s full flowered smile!

Page 7

And Kazuki-san gives off the slight feeling of sexy and cool!

Page 8

The members of S.E.M. are also pulling off how cool they look.

Page 9

I have to show off how cool I am too!

Page 10

Everyone has come to see us perform.

Page 11

I’ll snipe everyone’s hearts with a pose that fits me best!

Page 12

sfx: Woooooo

Page 13

Sniping successful!

Page 14

Fin.

Afterword

Happy Birthday, Ryo! Looking forward to continue producing you.

EDIT: Notes page here.

TL/Notes: SideM Mobage Coffee Break Event

Translating gives me an opportunity to learn about other characters that I probably would not have explored myself. Thanks to berry, I learned a lot about Cafe Parade. She provided all of the screencaps for this event since I don’t play the SideM mobage and I really wanted to do my best with translating since I know how much she loves Kamiya. Special thanks to my friend Anna, who helped me with one of the Asselin lines.

All 10 chapters are below and TL Notes are marked with *. Character lines are separated by name. Please enjoy reading!

Chotto Hitoiki ☆ Coffee Break
A Little Breather ☆ Coffee Break

ちょっとひといき ☆ Coffee break

Chapter 1

Mizushima Saki
Goo~d morning!
Wow, everyone is here! Kamiya, you got here without getting lost! Amazing!

Shinonome Soichiro
Asselin-san and I brought him here. The job this time will not allow for tardiness after all.

Uzuki Makio
Today’s shoot is a TV commercial for that famous AP Coffee! It’s impressive how suits were prepared just for this!

Shinonome Soichiro
We will be acting as salarymen and OL*. Since we do not have any experience in this field, we will be working in an actual office to gain experience as salarymen as stated in Producer-san’s CM* campaign project proposal. This is just one part of the project proposal.

*TL note1: OL is office lady
*TL note2: CM is commercial

We will be acting as salarymen and OL.

Asselin BB II
Our brethren’s activity records will be remembered in the electrons of the sea, will it?…We must brace ourselves!

Mizushima Saki
It will be okay, I’m sure everything will work out. Right, Kamiya?

Kamiya Yukihiro
Yes, that’s right. Let us not give into the pressure and create a wonderful commercial.

Chapter 2

Asselin BB II
Unh, primarily, the Lords of Darkness have guided us to the attire
that they themselves have obtained as they said they would…

Uzuki Makio
Ahaha, there are so many that it’s difficult to choose!
…Ah, what do you think of this one? It suits you, Asselin-san!

…Ah, what do you think of this one? It suits you, Asselin-san!

Asselin BB II
Is that the truth?!
The Prince of the Mythical Sweets Kingdom has given me a recommendation, I see…
Kukuku, then I shall try this on.

Kukuku, then I shall try this on.

Shinonome Soichiro
Kamiya, have you already decided on which one you will wear?

Kamiya Yukihiro
Not yet. I normally don’t have many chances to wear suits, so all of them look the same to me.

Shinonome Soichiro
Heh, me too. I have no clue which is which…what should we do?

Mizushima Saki
Hehehe~! It’s times like these where you should papi leave it to lovely coordinator Saki-chan♪
I will think of the perfect outfit combinations to suit Kamiya and everyone!

Hehehe~! It’s times like these where you should papi leave it to lovely coordinator Saki-chan♪

Kamiya Yukihiro
How dependable. However, try not to go too flashy on us, okay?

How dependable. However, try not to go too flashy on us, okay?

Chapter 3

Mizushima Saki
Hi, thanks for waiting! I bought some AP Coffee from that vending machine over there!

Asselin BB II
Hrm…this jet black beverage, there’s a deep flavor to it.

Makio Uzuki
We usually drink black tea so this feels a bit strange. Especially with Kamiya-san.

Mizushima Saki
Yeah, for sure. Cafe Parade’s menu also has coffee, but since
everyone loves Kamiya’s black tea and no one really ordered coffee,
the image of Kamiya and coffee never really meshed, I think?

Shinonome Soichiro
However, in this commercial, as salarymen, we must show the taste appeal of coffee.
It is necessary that we research on how salarymen would show their expressions.

Kamiya Yukihiro
I believe that’s why Producer-san has included the experience plan in the project proposal.
Producer-san is expecting a lot out of us…everyone, let’s do our best!

Chapter 4

Kamiya Yukihiro
Now, today we start shooting for the web documentary. Let’s try to be natural…pft.

Mizushima Saki
Aahh~ Kamiya, laughing is a big N O!

Shinonome Soichiro
You as well, Mizushima-san. I think I see a grin on your face there?

Mizushima Saki
Ahaha…well, we’ve never really worn suits, you know?
That’s why, it’s just so funny. Hahaha!

Asselin BB II
Hmm…my transient attire, is it strange…?

Uzuki Makio
Well, I might just not be used to it but I think it suits you really well, Asselin-san!

Asselin BB II
I-is that so? That’s good…phew.

Shinonome Soichiro
Since we are all not used to wearing suits, it’s as if we are all new employees who have just entered the workforce.

Kamiya Yukihiro
Aah, let’s shake the tension out of ourselves to be positive and put forth our best efforts.

Chapter 5

Mizushima Saki
Asselin! Please papi copy this document for me!

Asselin BB II
U-u-u-understood. Best to leave the duplication of the magical manuscript to me. Ah Ha Ha Ha!

Uzuki Makio
Satan is caught in the copy machine! Whoa, a lot of copies are coming out!

Asselin BB II
What?! Satannnn!! Awawawawawawa…

Shinonome Soichiro
Asselin-san, let’s calm down. If we just press the ‘Stop’ button…
There, it has stopped.

Asselin BB II
Ooooh! Soichiro, the silent confidant who has guided this follower of darkness! I thank you from the depths of my soul!

Shinonome Soichiro
Fufu, you’re welcome. Things over here seem okay for the most part…
However over at that desk, Kamiya seems to be struggling with something there.
We knew that working at a company would be different from the cafe but it really is worlds apart.
Looks like it will be quite tough for us here.

Chapter 6

Asselin BB II
I-I am at my limit…everyone, I bid farewell…
As I fall…

Mizushima Saki
Hang in there, Asselin. Especially since we also have a shoot tomorrow, okay?

Uzuki Makio
I’m not to the point of collapsing, but I really am tired.

Mizushima Saki
Me too. It’s my first time working as a member of society and all but…being an adult sure seems tough…

Kamiya Yukihiro
I’m sure our hard work will pay off. Everyone, I’m counting on you tomorrow.

Mizushima Saki
Kamiya… I thought that you might have been struggling like the rest of us, but you seem calm as a cucumber, huh?

Kamiya Yukihiro
Failure is a given when attempting new challenges after all. And, honestly…
Being able to experience a world that I know nothing about has quite the merit, I’d say.
When I think about it like that, it’s fun. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Shinonome Soichiro
Fufu…What a very “Kamiya” way of thinking. I’ll have to follow that example and do my best as well.

Chapter 7

Uzuki Makio
At first, I had no clue what would end up happening,
but as I’m able to steadily complete more tasks, the more fun this became!

Asselin BB II
After acquiring the skill of duplicating magical manuscripts,
there is no foe that can face me! I am now the god of duplication, Ah Ha Ha Ha!

Mizushima Saki
Asselin, perfect timing! Could you help me with preparing for the meeting?

Asselin BB II
Of course! We will bring success to the knights of the round table assembly!

Of course! We will bring success to the knights of the round table assembly!

Kamiya Yukihiro
…Makio, Saki, and Asselin have gotten their usual groove back.
At this pace, I think we’ll be able to easily get through the CM* shooting.

*TL note1: CM is commercial

Shinonome Soichiro
I think so as well. However…right now, we’re expected to do office work.
Kamiya, please focus on the task at hand.

Kamiya, please focus on the task at hand.

Kamiya Yukihiro
Oops, sorry about that… It’s impressive how Shinonome is always calm and collected. Haha

Chapter 8

Mizushima Saki
Good job, us! We finished the salaryman experience! Cheers!

Good job, us! We finished the salaryman experience! Cheers!

Kamiya Yukihiro
We’re drinking AP Coffee for our celebratory drinks though…mmm, delicious.
I feel like I’ve come back to life.

Uzuki Makio
It’s really a taste that gives the feeling of a little breather… Huh?

Asselin BB II
What is the matter, Makio?

Uzuki Makio
Is it just me or does it feel different drinking it now compared to when we drank it before?
It’s difficult to explain but the taste seems to spread slowly but steadily or something like that…

Is it just me or does it feel different drinking it now compared to when we drank it before?

Shinonome Soichiro
Spread… Certainly, that may be the case. I think we can feel that the taste is more delicious
compared to before.

Kamiya Yukihiro
This is, a drink after a day’s hard work…
I think we now have a feel for the appeal point of AP Coffee.

Mizushima Saki
Kamiya, your expression right now, is absolutely marvelous.
You look like a real salaryman!

Kamiya Yukihiro
Ahaha, thank you. I’ll have to remember this feeling during the CM* shoot.

*TL note1: CM is commercial

Chapter 9

Kamiya Yukihiro
All according to Producer-san’s plan, everyone is doing well.

Shinonome Soichiro
Not pretending to work, but the plan of actually working… Since we actually worked,
we can bring forth the reality of the workforce during this shoot.
The experience from the other day was very helpful. I am thankful.

Mizushima Saki
Kamiya, you were terrific in the office. Even though
you probably had your hands full with your own work,
whenever we were in a pinch, you helped us
by quickly finishing the work and saved the day.

Uzuki Makio
You were quite dependable. Thank you very much, Kamiya-san.

Shinonome Soichiro
Kamiya’s consideration for everyone is the same,
whether we’re at the office or Cafe Parade.
…Although, it’s thanks to that I had less work on my plate.

Asselin BB II
Hmm, Soichiro is always closely observing Kamiya. As expected, Soichiro!

Shinonome Soichiro
Fufu…I beg your pardon. We just have a relationship
where we simply cannot get rid of the other.

Chapter 10

『A time of healing, for you. AP Coffee』

Kamiya Yukihiro
『A time of healing, for you. AP Coffee』
…Well, that should be a wrap.

Mizushima Saki
Ya~y! Good work, Kamiya!
Your expression at the end there was so wonderful.
My heart skipped a beat after seeing you!

Asselin BB II
Ah! That form, as true as the black knight
serving under the steel castle of twilight!

Uzuki Makio
It’s just as Asselin-san says, the office building suited you well!

Kamiya Yukihiro
Everyone else as well, I think you all have captured
the roles that each one of you were trying to act out.
I’m so happy to be blessed with great friends. Thank you all.

Shinonome Soichiro
With this, we are finished with the shoot.
Everyone, you have all worked hard.

Kamiya Yukihiro
Yes, I can’t wait to see the commercial once it is all done.

Afterword

This coffee event was really cute overall. Although I actually do not like coffee, I can acknowledge that it is a staple at the office. Hope everyone enjoyed reading!

TL/Notes: FGO Diarmuid (Saber) Valentine

Hello, I decided that I needed a short break from SideM and decided to post a different mobage for now.

The premise of Fate/Grand Order (or FGO for short) is the player and the characters in the game fighting to save the world. The player is the “master” while the playable characters are “servants”. (For those not familiar, please note that this just happens to be the terminology in the game.)

Anyway, FGO runs a Valentine’s event every year where the player exchanges gifts with the characters. Female servants give chocolates while male servants give return gifts. (Gray area servants get to do both but I won’t get into that.)

I decided to play the event for the first time because although FGO does not have voiced lines in the story, the mobage added voiced lines for the first time in this Valentine’s event. (No one asked, but I sped through the event for Robin Hood and Okada Izou.)

Since I know that my friend Anna really loves Diarmuid, I offered to tl Diarmuid (Saber)’s Valentine lines because the Saber version is not yet in the NA version of the game.

Both TL and some Notes will be in this post. Unmarked text is Diarmuid (Saber) speaking. Master is translated as if the player chose the female counterpart (since this was for a friend).

Before Reading, Key Below

“Player Text”
Picked Choice
(TL note)
[Action in FGO]

異界の果実
Ikai no Kajitsu

Fruit of the Otherworld

Ooh, Master.
So you were here.

While this may be impudent of me, I was searching for you.
I, Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, will prepare an offering.

“Eh, hold on”
“From me first”-

I had heard from Da Vinci-dono (would have used Mr/Ms but Da Vinci) that today is a day that holds meaning.

If that is the case, I must put my devotion, loyalty, and also my feelings into form.
I would like for you to accept this.

-It is this.
My Lady.

[Receives Apple CE]

The fairy’s fruit, also said to be the sacred seed.

This fruit is, for certain, beyond the sea, as a part of the Otherworld (イムラヴァ – read as imurava), from trees which brilliantly painted the land.

Once, my foster father, the sea god Manannan, guided
the brave warrior Bran and his comrades to where they arrived at the land of plants-

……
……

……No. That is, only just the recitation of the poem.
I do not think that I can say that they were guided, err, yes.

“Looks like a delicious apple.”
“Thank you!”

To my Lady who always devotes themselves to fighting,
it would be fortunate if this has given you peace of mind, even for a moment.

“Well then, here is your return gift! Here!”

Ooh……this is……-

Aah, how can this be……

You have bestowed me with some kind of item.
Yes, I should have known yet I feel such deep emotion from this.

This for sure is more than an honor for one such as myself.
I am greatly obliged by your kindness.

(BIG LETTERS)……IF THAT IS THE CASE!!

I alone shall consume all of the chocolate that I have received!
Even at the cost of my life! Even if a fierce battle must be fought!

“You don’t have to overexaggerate over this!”
“Wait, I feel like something like this happened before too……?”

Afterword

I don’t play FGO very often anymore but I still enjoy the universe and the characters. Maybe I will tl more non-SideM things one day but I have to finish my backlog first!

Notes: SideM Mobage Magazine Pierre

When I saw that it was Pierre’s birthday on Twitter, I dropped everything and decided to translate his magazines that day. Link to Pierre’s magazines is here. Pierre is in my top 5 for SideM so I really wanted to contribute something. However, his Cybernetics Wars magazine needed a really huge tl note that I couldn’t bear with adding to the actual tl. So, in a way, it’s thanks to Pierre that this blog was born. Will be going over the original Japanese titles, word choice, and the mentioned huge tl note for Pierre’s CW magazine in full.

Event Names and Titles

This should be the last time that this section exists but it might not be considering how much I have enjoyed talking about each title so far.

315音頭！和太鼓ライブ
315 Ondo! Wadaiko Live
315 Folk Music! Japanese Drum Live

音頭/Ondo has many different meanings. Pierre’s magazine page actually translated it as “Leading”, which isn’t wrong because it is assumed that Beit and sai will lead the drumming (or in Kirio’s case, playing flute) at the festival. Based on the title, the performance will be 315 (最高/saikou) as the SideM franchise loves using the “best” wordplay.

However, I did not want to assume that the SideM idols were the main attraction of the drumming festival which is why I opted to go with “Folk Music” instead for 音頭/Ondo.

和太鼓/Wadaiko can be best described as Japanese drums, the same type of drums that are shown in Bandai Namco’s other game, 太鼓の達人/Taiko no Tatsujin. And, as expected, two of the event cards show Taiko no Tatsujin mascots.

たこ焼き、大好き！
Takoyaki, Daisuki!
I Love Takoyaki!

Honestly, not much to say here except that Pierre is cute.

Cybernetics Wars ~機械仕掛けの反逆者~
Cybernetics Wars ~Kikai Shikake no Hangyakusha~
Cybernetics Wars ~Mechanical Rebels~

Not much to say here either. My tl matched the Wiki’s.

ﾎﾞｸ､ﾛﾎﾞｯﾄ!
Boku, Robot!
I am a Robot!

Pierre is straightforward and to the point. Only thing that is worth noting is that half width katakana was used. I’m not sure about the reason but SideM Mobage uses half width a lot. In this case, the only thing I can think of is the fact that Pierre has to act out an android/robot in Cybernetics Wars so robot speech is indicated by half width. Only a guess though.

Word Choice

コナモノ vs 粉もの

Both コナモノ and 粉もの are read as konamono and are meant to be the same thing, which is food made from flour such as okonomiyaki and takoyaki (both which are mentioned in the Japanese Drum Live magazine).

The interesting thing about the katakana vs the kanji/hiragana is the difference in speakers. Pierre is always using the katakana version most likely due to the fact that he’s from a different country and Japanese isn’t his first language. However, コナモノ is always in katakana even though his Japanese should be much better now.

Flour food!

Whatever the reason is, it doesn’t change the fact that Pierre uses the katakana version and everyone else most likely uses the traditional kanji/hiragana version. This is illustrated by the fact that Minori uses it the page immediately after Pierre.

Minori: Pierre, you really love dishes that are made from flour.
Pierre: Yea!

Due to this tiny detail, I always have Pierre call コナモノ flour foods to seem more childish. Pierre also has katakana used for other words but Pierre’s Japanese should getting better so I don’t want to make his speech any more simpler than it already is. I try to use simple words for him but I don’t want to do it to the point where it looks like he’s flubbing everything.

Point is, little details can make a big difference in a narrative. It’s definitely important for the reader to identify small differences in the text to understand characters better. However in the event of a translated text, the translator must do their best to convey the nuance in a story by making word choices that make sense in context of the story.

P-p-p-poker face p-p-poker face

I used the term “poker face” in the Cybernetics Wars magazine for the Japanese word 無表情/muhyoujou, which means anywhere from “expressionless” to having a “blank look” on one’s face.

In the magazine, Pierre is having trouble with acting like an android/robot for the Cybernetics Wars movie which can be shown seen below.

Pierre: Uu~ It’s wrong~ Having no feelings is hard…
Kyoji: Pierre, all your feelings immediately show in your face after all.

In the next panel, Minori ponders over how he could help Pierre with 無表情の練習/muhyoujou no renshuu, essentially “practicing an expressionless face”. While “practicing an expressionless face” would not be incorrect, I had wanted to shorten the phrase as well as make it sound somewhat more natural, which is why I opted for “poker face practice” instead.

「………らぶですか？」

To be quite honest, I was very excited to use “poker face” because I love both the Lady Gaga song as well as a song sung by another iM@S idol known for their poker face. Looking at you, Makabe Mizuki from Million Live! with POKER POKER.
(Also linked …In The Name Of。…LOVE? with らぶ above.)
Excuse me for plugging the Theater Days mobage here, these are really good songs. Both are also great live here and here .

TL Note

The TL Note for Pierre’s Cybernetics Wars magazine actually begins where we left off with Minori mentioning poker face practice, namely 無表情の練習/muhyoujou.

Minori: Poker face practice, huh… Ah, I got it! Let’s play The Laughing Game. 
You laugh, you lose
Pierre: You laugh, you lose?!
Minori: It’s the object of the game after all.

Minori comes up with playing にらめっこ/niramekko to help Pierre develop his poker face. にらめっこ/niramekko is actually more literally translated as “staring contest”. Not sure about others when they were younger, but when I played staring contests as a child, the one who blinked (or closed either eye) lost. However, based on the flow of the comic, there does not seem to be a penalty for blinking which is why I chose to use “laughing game” for にらめっこ/niramekko.

The next part regards the handwritten text near Minori’s speech bubble showing あっぷっぷーって/appuppuutte.

First, quick lesson on って/tte. It is used in many different ways such as when referring to what someone said, when stating an item x (in this case あっぷっぷー/appuppuu), etc. It can be said that it is the casual version of という/to iu.

In Minori’s case, he states a distinct feature of the laughing game by saying “where they say あっぷっぷー/appuppuu”.

Now what exactly is あっぷっぷー/appuppuu? It can be best described by the image below.

Don’t laugh.

The best way I can describe あっぷっぷー/appuppuu is the face (and maybe the sound you make) when you’re playing the laughing game and are about to lose despite doing your best trying not to laugh. The cover of this Japanese picture book by Nakagawa Hirotaka pictured above shows the struggle of trying not to laugh with the face of puffing your cheeks.

As far as the actual meaning, after doing some research, I can conclude that あっぷっぷー/appuppuu is a phrase that does not mean anything. It is just noise.
In Japan, children start the game of にらめっこ/niramekko by saying あっぷっぷー/appuppuu in the same way English speakers would start a game by saying “Ready, set, go!” There is no logic as to why, this is just a set custom in Japan.

However, in order for this magazine to flow, I chose not to translate literally and instead replaced あっぷっぷー/appuppuu with “you laugh, you lose” since I feel that “you laugh you lose” is a common phrase that comes with playing the laughing game in the same way that the あっぷっぷー/appuppuu expression is common in Japan. However since あっぷっぷー/appuppuu is also a start signal, I have translated it as both “you laugh, you lose” and “ready, start” depending on the context.

Minori also helpfully states in the last speech bubble of the page/panel that the phrase あっぷっぷー/appuppuu is the starting signal of the laughing game. In order to keep the consistency with having translated the phrase as “You laugh, you lose” (since having to explain “Ready, start” of a game doesn’t make too much sense in English), I just had Minori explain that あっぷっぷー/appuppuu/”You laugh, you lose” is the object of the game. As far as Pierre not understanding the object of the game until the next page/panel, I am just throwing it on the fact that Pierre’s Japanese is not 100%. (Sorry, Pierre. I still love you.)

Pierre: What’s The Laughing Game? 
It seems fun!!
Kyoji: It’s a game where you stare at each other and the person who laughs is the loser.
Pierre: You can’t laugh?!

Due to my translation choice for あっぷっぷー/appuppuu or in Pierre’s case, あぷぷ/apupu, I ended up ignoring it in the handwritten text above because Pierre thinks あぷぷ/apupu sounds fun. It doesn’t make sense for “You Laugh, You Lose” or “Ready, Start!” to sound fun. Now, while I completely ignore a word, it still makes sense with the flow of the comic because the point of the page/panel is that Pierre thinks that あぷぷ/apupu, which is a package deal with The Laughing Game, sounds fun and wants to try and play. Pierre later finds out that The Laughing Game is too difficult for him but it is okay because all of Beit has a good time.

It’s not cheating to try and make your opponents laugh.

Afterword

All in all, this was a really post and I hope some of you aren’t angry with my liberal translation choices here. Even though I struggled to convey the meaning of the magazines, I hope it was fun to read them. It would be great if everyone had a smile on their face like all of Beit having fun.

Thank you for reading, and hope you laughed!

Notes: SideM Mobage Makio Magazine

I said there would be no Notes post for Makio’s magazines but I just wanted to make a quick one going over the event names and magazine titles.

Regular Issues

運命のケーキ 後編
Unmei no Keeki Kouhen
Cake of Destiny, Second Half

Crosschecked this title with the SideM Eng Wiki. I omitted the “The” from “The Cake of Destiny” to make it shorter. Also, Wiki shows it as “Part 1” and “Part 2” but I went with “Second Half” due to the fact that 前編/zenpen and 後編/kouhen always implies a two-parter vs a story of multiple parts.

2人で分け合えばきっと楽しい 後編
Futari de Wake Aeba Kitto Tanoshii Kouhen
If We Both Share, It Will Surely Be Fun, Second Half

This was not translated on the Wiki so I went ahead and made my own translation. Only thing I made sure was to use “Second Half” again because it’s another two-parter (which I think applies to all regular issue magazines).

Special Issues

秘められた力！錬金術ライブ
Himerareta Chikara! Renkinjutsu Live
Hidden Power! Alchemy Live

The Wiki and I agreed on this event name. Was as exact as an experiment with precise measurements to be honest.

アルケミーケーキ
Arukemii Keeki
Alchemy Cake

The magazine title for
錬金術ライブ/Renkinjutsu Live/Alchemy Live wasn’t even
錬金術ケーキ/Renkinjutsu Keeki/Alchemy Cake.

Alchemy was written in katakana (the Japanese writing system used for foreign words) that it was a really simple and straightforward magazine title.

Marchen Sweet Live ~お菓子の家へご案内~
Marchen Sweet Live ~Okashi no Ie e Goannai~
Marchen Sweet Live ~Guides to The House of Sweets~

Marchen Sweet Live was kept as is because that is how it is shown in the original event logo. Also, I don’t plan on translating any German if not necessary. I don’t know much German like Kei after all. By the way, Kei is not in this event.

Other than keeping Marchen Sweet Live, I was thinking of using “Gingerbread House” for お菓子の家/Okashi no Ie however, knowing Makio at the very least, cakes would have to be included somewhere. Not wanting to keep the house exclusive to gingerbread, I went with the Wiki’s event name.

Fun fact when I was checking, the Japanese Wikipedia page for gingerbread house is listed under the German word Hexenhaus and also shows Lebkuchenhaus. It was interesting how the German word was used verbatim in the same fashion as the German pastry, baumkuchen. Bet Makio would love baumkuchen. On a somewhat related note, WT Germany will have mention of baumkuchen which is why I thought of it.

どこまでもついていきます！
Dokomade mo Tsuite Ikimasu!
I Will Follow You No Matter Where You Go!

All I have to say is Makio’s love for Soichiro’s cakes is real.
I also really craved cake while translating all his magazines.

Afterword

As mentioned in the Amehiko Magazine Notes, I’ll try to include event names and magazine titles moving forward. Somewhat unrelated, in case anyone was wondering why the Makio and Pierre banner dimensions don’t fit, it’s because I didn’t know what I was doing when I made the two banners. Kind of figured things out while making the Amehiko banner.

Notes: SideM Mobage Magazine Amehiko

There are a few things that I want to cover regarding these Amehiko magazines. Topics will include breaking down the original Japanese titles, translating onomatopoeia, and identifying speech bubbles. I am hoping to discuss these topics from a translator’s standpoint so that even if someone doesn’t know much about SideM, they could still understand the subjects at hand.

Event Names and Titles

First thing we’ll get out of the way are both the original Japanese event names as well as the corresponding magazine titles. Moving forward, I’ll try to include kanji/romaji/english in all translations so that I won’t need to explain in Notes every time unless absolutely necessary.

315MAGAZINE 乗馬紳士なアイドルたち
315MAGAZINE Jouba Shinshi na Idol-tachi
315MAGAZINE The Horseback Gentlemen Idols

The Horseback event title is pretty straightforward. Only differentiating word choice would be for 乗馬/jouba because I have seen “Horse Riding” as another alternative. I went with “Horseback” because it felt more natural as a title and I figured one word looked better than two. Just a personal preference though. Maybe my usage was wrong but shhh…

こいつは参ったね
Koitsu wa Maitta ne
Can’t Win Against This Guy

First, I’d like to clarify. “This guy,” as in こいつ/koitsu, is the dog at the stable. In other words, THIS CUTIE.
(In case you’re not aware, I am a dog person.)

Woof

Magazine for Horseback is literally translated as “I lost against this guy, huh” however the expression is used in several ways in Japanese. Some examples include, “This isn’t good, what do I do”, “I lost, time to give up”, etc. I didn’t want to give away the punchline in the title (even if Amehiko definitely lost to the really cute dog), so I made the title “can’t win against”. This way, the reader could read to see against who and how Amehiko couldn’t win or if he possibly won in the end.

Also, when I translate, I try to use words that sound alike in the order of the original text if possible to give the reader a similar experience as if they were reading the original.
In this case, こいつ/koitsu/can’t and 参った/maitta/against.

秋夜の音楽祭 ~JAZZBARへようこそ~
Akiyoru no Ongakusai ~Jazz Bar e Youkoso~
Autumn Night Music Festival ~Welcome to the Jazz Bar~

For Jazz Bar, I crosschecked my TL with the SideM Eng Wiki. Was glad that I saw “autumn” over “fall” for the point I made above regarding words that sound alike.

澄んだ空間
Sunda Kuukan
Transparent Space

The Jazz Bar magazine is about ghosts/spirits showing up to the jazz bar space/room (空間/kuukan) and secretly (but not really secretly in Amehiko’s eyes) watching the dress rehearsal of Altessimo+Legenders. 澄んだ means “clear” and is used in the title to imply that no one else *should* be in the room. Since ghosts are often portrayed as being see-through, I felt that using “transparent” was more appropriate. “Space” was used over “Room” to give the title that slightly eerie feel.

Fun fact for SideM fans, the 澄 (from 澄んだ/sunda) is the same one used for sumi in Kiyosumi Kuro’s family name.
清 means pure. So, 清澄/Kiyosumi means pure and clear.
Glad that Kuro’s family name reflects who he is.

Cybernetics Wars 2 ~希望を繋ぐ解放者
Cybernetics Wars 2 ~Kibou wo Tsunagu Kaihousha~
Cybernetics Wars 2 ~The Liberator that Carries Hope~

Honestly, the SideM Eng Wiki had a much better title than I came up with so I just rolled with it at the time. However, not sure why the Wiki showed “Cybernetic Wars” with no ‘s’ when the original event logo as well as the event predecessor with Beit & THE Kogadou had it as “Cybernetics Wars” but I’m also unnecessarily nitpicky. I later changed mine to reflect the plural version of “Cybernetics”.
Was originally planning to translate 繋ぐ/tsunagu as “links together” however “carries” also works since 繋ぐ/tsunagu can also mean maintain, preserve, keep. Either way, I think both sound cool like the whole premise of the movies in universe.
In all honesty, I was thinking translating 解放者/kaihousha as “releaser” and thought the SideM Eng Wiki people were geniuses for using a cool word like “liberator”. Then I squinted at the event logo and saw リベレイター/liberator right there. Completely played myself. Always a good thing to note that alternate readings are a thing in Japan. Kanji can be English.
Disclaimer: Kanji can’t actually be English. I’m sorry that I lied.

Anime uses the whole “kanji has made up English readings” a lot more than you would think. I’ve experienced it the most with the Raildex franchise, which even uses it in the titles of the series. Titles are とある魔術の禁書目録 where 禁書目録 is read as インデックス/Index and とある科学の超電磁砲 where 超電磁砲 is read as レールガン/Railgun. Therefore the titles are Toaru Majutsu no Index and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun respectively.
It makes sense considering what both heroines are in the context of the series but the readings aren’t real. Or maybe I’m just not living my life correctly.

ちょいと野暮用さ
Choito Yaboyou sa
Just a Little Minor Business Now

I had to be pretty careful translating this title when translating the Cybernetics Wars 2 magazine. The title itself is simple however the title name is used as lines in the magazine. I definitely had to make sure the consistency was there between the title, when Alex (Amehiko’s character) uses the line, and when Amehiko himself uses it. It was a little difficult to keep the consistency because the original Japanese text actually has both Alex and Amehiko using ちょいと野暮用さ in some fashion but not that exact phrase. It was difficult to convey the same yet different lines without changing the meaning that I made the decision to keep most of it the same to illustrate the connection between Alex and Amehiko.

Onomatopoeia (Sfx)

The use of onomatopoeia (which I definitely googled to check if I spelled it correctly) is important especially in manga. The sound effect, or sfx for short, is needed to show character actions since manga isn’t animated like anime. This point is brought up because SideM Mobage Magazines are stylized like manga panels.

Please note that I add the “Sound effects are generally not translated” disclaimer to all of my magazine translations because most sfx in manga can be inferred based on what is happening. I’m not sure what it is about Japanese but it feels like there’s a sfx for everything.

*insert stick throwing sfx here*

In the case of the Horseback magazine, I wouldn’t translate the sfx of a stick being thrown. Meanwhile in English, other than writing “stick being thrown”, I have no clue what I would translate ピューン as other than writing the romaji pyu~n. Not sure about everyone else, but I can’t recall the last time I’ve heard a stick making any noise while being thrown. This is the biggest reason that I don’t tl sfx.

The other reason that I don’t translate sfx would probably be because I find it distracting when reading manga. I get most thrown off when I see something like *bang* because my thought process ends up being, “Did someone get shot?”, “Did a character just say that?”, “Did someone want to do something inappropriate that can’t be shown to a young audience?!” (okay, maybe not that last one but it still fits). In reality, one of the characters in the manga just slammed the table Ace Attorney style but I don’t need a sfx (most of the time) to tell me that.

However, I will note that I tl’d every woof and dog line because (I love dogs and) the dog was essentially another character in the magazine. Case in point can be seen below.

Wah! I was fast, wasn’t I? 
I’m awesome, right? 
Praise me! Play with me! Throw it again!

This adorable dog deserved all of the “woof” translations because it somehow managed to talk to Amehiko. Therefore, even though “woof” is a sfx, I treated it the same as handwritten text that a character would say.

Come here~

In this case, Sora saying “Come here~” to the precious dog. I hope the logic behind my tl’s (or lack of tl’s if we’re talking about sfx) makes sense. Also, thank you for bearing with my love for dogs. Want to be Sora there.

Those are my 2 cents on onomatopoeia. Apologies if people really want them translated but I won’t be the one to do it.

Speech Bubbles

Speech bubbles in manga are generally straightforward with the point of the bubble showing the speaker. However, when there’s more than one character in a panel and no reliable point, understanding the situation may be difficult and the speaker may often be misinterpreted.

Only Happy and Keith talking. Alex is just there since this is an Amehiko magazine.

Someone might argue with me about this panel because the left speech bubble looks like it belongs to Alex (Amehiko’s character) but it’s actually still Happy (Yukihiro’s character) having a conversation with Keith (Rui’s character).

The biggest indicator of this is the fact that Happy speaks politely using です/desu and ありません/arimasen while both Alex and Keith speak casually using plain form. Also, there’s only one speech bubble with plain form in that panel and only Keith’s mouth is open. We can conclude this is a conversation between Happy and Keith while Alex is silent.

Keith talking and Alex thinking.

Alex speaking (or in this case, thinking) casually is shown in the rest of the magazine. Therefore, this confirms that his speech style is not similar to Happy’s. Alex does not speak until after thinking thoughts for two panels.

Just remembered that I have a little minor business to take care of, go ahead of me.

Identifying the speaker is a minor thing but it’s really important to know what is going on in a manga if you’re translating. I often see mistranslated works due to the translator mistaking who is speaking in a manga. I will admit, it is a common error that happens because speech bubbles can be vague and confusing. However, that is why one should be vigilant when reading because translators are human and make mistakes like everyone.

Afterword

This post was a lot wordier than I expected it to be. Just shows how chatty I can be, I guess! Hope this was helpful.

TL: SideM Mobage Magazine Pierre

It is now Pierre’s birthday (8.1) in both Japan and where I live. This was an impulse decision to tl his magazines because I wanted to do something for his birthday. Translated magazines for the following events:

  • 315 Folk Music! Japanese Drum Live
  • Cybernetics Wars ~Mechanical Rebels~

Magazines can be found here.

Notes Before Reading

  • Each page is separated by lines which are in *italics*.
  • Names are included for lines if more than one character is speaking in the same page.
  • Sound effects are generally not translated.
Happy Birthday, Pierre!

315 Folk Music! Japanese Drum Live

315 Ondo! Wadaiko Live
315 Folk Music! Japanese Drum Live

Takoyaki, Daisuki!
I Love Takoyaki!

Page 1

Page 2

Flour food!
[Sauce]

Page 3

Minori
Pierre, you really love dishes that are made from flour.

Pierre
Yea!

Page 4

Takoyaki! Okonomiyaki! So yummy!
Makes my mouth water!!

Page 5

Someday I want to have flour food places back in my country!
A lot of them!

Page 6

Pierre
One takoyaki please!!

Kyoji
Someday…

Page 7

Kyoji
Someday Pierre will return to his home country, won’t he…

Minori
………

Takoyaki Booth Owner
Kid, you have a great smile so you get extra!

Pierre
Yafu~! That makes me happy!

Page 8

Minori
No use thinking about it now.

Kyoji
…That’s true…

Page 9

Minori, Kyoji. What’s wrong? Not happy?

Page 10

That’s right!!
We’ll eat takoyaki together!
And become happy!!

Page 11

Minori
Yup!
That’s right, Pierre!

Kyoji
!!

Page 12

Kyoji
HOT!!

Minori
Pierre! Let’s buy some for Producer and the others too!

Pierre
Yea!

Minori
Mister, an extra order of takoyaki please!

Takoyaki Booth Owner
Coming right up!!

Page 13

Page 14

Fin.

Cybernetics Wars ~Mechanical Rebels~

Cybernetics Wars ~Kikai Shikake no Hangyakusha~
Cybernetics Wars ~Mechanical Rebels~

Boku, Robot!
I am a Robot!

Page 1

Android… Robots have no feelings…

Page 2

Don’t think about anything
Like this?

Page 3

Pierre
Uu~ It’s wrong~
Having no feelings is hard…

Kyoji
Pierre, all your feelings immediately
show in your face after all.

Page 4

Minori
Poker face practice, huh…
Ah, I got it! Let’s play The Laughing Game.
You laugh, you lose

Pierre
You laugh, you lose?!

Minori
It’s the object of the game after all.

Page 5

Pierre
What’s The Laughing Game?
It seems fun!!

Kyoji
It’s a game where you stare at each other
and the person who laughs is the loser.

Pierre
You can’t laugh?!

Page 6

Seems hard…
Uu but our job… Poker face practice…
I’ll do my best!

Page 7

Minori
Well, then. Take a seat, Kyoji.

Kyoji
So we’re really doing this…

Pierre
We’re really doing this!

Minori
Then, let’s start The Laughing Game.
Start!

Page 8

Page 9

!?

Page 10

Minori, not fair!!
Don’t, can’t, laugh.

Page 11

!?

Page 12

Ahahahahaha!!!
Both of you aren’t fair~~~!!

Page 13

Pierre
Let’s play again! No weird faces this time! Promise!!

Minori
Okay, okay.
Then let’s play one more time.
Ready, sta~

Page 14

~rt!

Page 15

Ahahahahahaha!!
I can’t do this~~~!!

Page 16

Fin.

Afterword

I’m glad I found two cute magazines for Pierre’s birthday. Especially happy that the Japanese Drum Live one had him eating his favorite flour foods. Hope he got to celebrate in the same fashion like his LOS message.

https://twitter.com/JungRocks/status/1156611592013930496
Yafu~!

Cybernetics Wars had an unexpectedly cute story as well. However, CW’s magazine was one of the reasons this blog ended up happening.

On that note, a Notes post will definitely be happening. Finally managed to add all the magazines to this blog at the very least. It is almost 3AM here as a result but will start writing my first Notes posts tomorrow. Will also add the rest of my translations ASAP. Yafu~!

EDIT: Notes page is here.

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